There are thousands of colleges in the US, more than anyone can easily keep track of. Some colleges, however, compound this problem by having names that are easily mistaken for those of other colleges. This can lead to problems big and small, from clicking on the wrong college on your Common App to accidentally researching the wrong college entirely.
In this article, we’re going to explore some of the most easily confused colleges, and the differences between them. We won’t be able to cover every possible difference, but will instead give you a quick reference to understand which is which, to prevent further confusion. Let’s get started!
Amherst College and UMass Amherst
The confusion here is one we’ll see several times, where two different schools are located in the same place, and both are predominantly known by the place name. Amherst College is a top private liberal arts college in Amherst Massachusetts, and is the third oldest college in the state. It is widely regarded as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the US, and is a member of the Five College Consortium.
UMass Amherst is a public research university located in Amherst, Massachusetts. Like many public schools, it is named after the town in which it is situated. It is the second largest university in the state, far dwarfing its similarly named peer. It is the flagship school of the UMass system, and is widely regarded for its research. As a full university, it also has multiple graduate schools associated with it. Adding to the confusion, it is also a member of the Five College Consortium. These schools are mostly confused in casual conversation, as both are frequently abbreviated as simply Amherst. This can be cleared up quickly, but be sure you know which you are speaking about.
Columbia College and Columbia University
Most colleges are named after their location or a wealthy donor, but some have more aspirational names. The twin Columbias had similar inspirations for a name, and have been confusing students ever since. Columbia University is the more famous of the two; it is an Ivy League school, based in New York City, and is regularly ranked as one of the top undergraduate programs in the country. It is a full university, and its graduate programs are quite well known as well.
Columbia College, in contrast, can refer to several schools. The most well known (and most commonly mistaken) is Columbia College Chicago, but there are also Columbia Colleges in Missouri, South Carolina, California, and British Columbia in Canada. The Chicago school is a small arts college, with strong programs in both visual and performing arts. When people refer to “Columbia” they most often are referring to the university in New York, but you should be sure to clarify, in case there is any confusion. This is also something to look out for when adding schools to your Common App; this is easily remedied later, but it’s easiest to get it right the first time.
University of Chicago and University of Illinois Chicago
These two schools are somewhat unique for this list, because they are only confused in their shortened nickname forms. U of C and UIC are easily confused, especially if speaking quickly. Autocorrect can also turn one into the other quite often. UChicago is a small private research university located on the South Side of Chicago. It is regularly ranked as one of the nation’s top schools, and is known for its somewhat intense academic focus, plus weird essay questions.
UIC, by contrast, is one of the campuses associated with the University of Illinois system. It is a large public research university, located adjacent to Chicago’s Loop. It hosts over 33,000 students, and is the largest university in the Chicago area. Confusion between the schools is usually brief, and less likely to trip students up on the Common App.
The Many Trinity Colleges
The fact that many colleges and universities were founded by religious orders or as seminaries specifically lead to many of them having religious names. Apart from the Jesuits naming everything after Ignatious Loyola, Trinity is the best example of this naming trend. There are a great many Trinity Colleges and Trinity Universities, noth in the US and internationally.
There is no easy way to differentiate these in casual conversation besides adding a place name to them. We recommend being very careful when adding any of these to the Common App, so you can ensure you are applying to the school you intend to. Yes, there is only a small chance you accidentally end up attending Trinity University of Asia (in the Philippines), but that’s not the sort of thing you want to do accidentally outside of a somewhat contrived comedy film.
Cornell University and Cornell College
Many universities are named after founders or early major donors. In the case of the twin Cornells, there happened to be two distant cousins, both with the surname Cornell, associated with the formation of two completely distinct educational institutions. Cornell University is a large research university in upstate New York, and is a member of the Ivy League. Cornell is regularly ranked highly amongst undergraduate schools, and also offers an expansive graduate program.
Cornell College is a small, private, religious, liberal arts college located in Mount Vernon, Iowa. It is notable for having students take a single course at a time, covering a semester’s worth of material in each in around three and a half weeks. It is a religious institution, and is associated with the United Methodist Church. The confusion between the schools mostly comes when adding colleges to the Common App; Cornell University is generally much more referenced and known.
Boston College and Boston University
These schools are tricky in several ways, as they have similar names, are located in the same city, are of similar sizes, and are of a similar tier in college rankings. Boston College is a private research university located in Boston. It is a religious school, founded and run by the Jesuit Catholic order. In spite of its name, it is a full university, with expansive graduate options.
Boston University is a private research university in Boston. While it was formally aligned with the United Methodist Church, it is currently nonsectarian. The schools are often abbreviated BC and BU, but the number of similarities, even beyond the names, often trip up students and parents alike.
University of Washington and Washington University
The confusion between these schools is usually temporary, and comes from a lack of familiarity with one or the other, in combination with the overly similar names. For this reason, it is usually referred to in full as Washington University in St. Louis, WUSTL, or WashU specifically to avoid this confusion. WashU is a private college in St. Louis (as the name suggests), and is regularly ranked fairly highly amongst private universities. It is known for its rigorous academic character.
The University of Washington, by contrast, is the flagship public university of Washington state, and like all colleges is named after its state. Understandably, George Washington was a very popular figure, so we named a lot of different things after him. It is located in Seattle, and is a large public research university. It has a number of strong programs, but is best known for its graduate schools, particularly in medicine.
The Many Loyola Universities
The Jesuits are a religious order of Catholics known for both the intensity of their faith and establishing schools and universities as often as possible. These are often quite good schools, and many of their institutions are well regarded. They do have a tendency to name these after their order’s founder (Ignatious Loyola), leading to some confusion. There are four different Loyola Universities in the US, with others found abroad. These are always differentiated by place name; we recommend using some care when indicating which you want to apply to.
Northeastern and Northwestern
These colleges are usually confused in a flub of the tongue, or simply mixing up directions, but keeping them straight can be tricky for students unfamiliar with either. Northwestern is located just North of Chicago, and is a private research university. Is is regularly ranked quite highly, and is viewed as the second best school in Chicago, in competition with its sometimes rival UChicago.
Northeastern, in contrast, is located in Boston, and is a large, private research university. It is ranked well, but is also well known for trying to climb the college rankings somewhat cynically. It is a good school, but is generally not held int he same tier as Northwestern.
Miami University and University of Miami
We can’t cover every group of universities which share reversed place names, but we are covering these because of how unexpected the difference is for some students. Namely, one of these schools is in Florida, and the other is in Ohio. The University of Miami is located in Coral Gables, Florida, Southwest of Miami proper. It is a large private research university. It is well known for athletics and academics alike, and has strong undergraduate and graduate programs.
Miami University is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. It is of a similar size to its counterpart in Florida, and it has a well regarded academic program. It is one of the original eight “public Ivies,” a group of schools regarded as strong public counterparts to the Ivy League. Its name comes from the Miami River Valley, which comes in turn from the Miami people, who are an Algonquin tribe. The University of Miami comes from the city of Miami, which in turn comes from an entirely different native group, the Mayaimi.
Final Thoughts
Trying to do research on colleges is often a challenge, and this is only compounded when their names are so similar as to induce confusion. In some cases this comes from the simple fact that there are many different colleges in one geographic location named for that location, and in others fate has simply contrived to give schools similar names.
In either case, we hope this article has introduced you to some of the schools we see students and parents confuse most often, and helped you avoid any missteps when deciding on which colleges to apply to. If you are looking for help researching colleges, or figuring out what factors will make a college the right fit for you, schedule a free consultation today. We have a long experience helping students explore their collegiate options, and are always happy to hear from you.
