"The" before University

[Strangefox]

Hi!

As far as I understand, I do not put "the" before names of universities. NEVER.

For example:

Awesome University The Awesome University

University of Awesomeness The Univerity of Awesomeness

Am I right? Are there any exceptions?

Thanks!

Edited September 28, 2010 by Strangefox

[DrFaustus666]

Hi S.F.,

Yes, basically, with a few exceptions, in the NOMINATIVE CASE

In Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University loves to be referred to as "The Johns Hopkins University", and in the hallowed city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, I've often seen Harvard's ultraelite political science school referred to as "The John F. Kennedy School of ..."

But in general, you are right.

In the OBJECTIVE case, one usually DOES include "the."

Ex: I earned an MA in Music from the University of Maryland in 1979.

If if omit "the" above, it sounds very primitive and ugly.

John

[Strangefox]

Oh! That is complicated. So I say: "University of Maryland is the greatest university in the world." without the, but "I graduated from the University of Maryland.", "I studied at the University of Maryland.", "I am applying to the University of Maryland."???

[aginath]

Tread carefully with this topic and when in doubt, check with the school's "about" or "info" page.

Other examples that come to mind are The Ohio State University. However, while I received a B.S. from Texas A&M University, it is a member of The Texas A&M University System.

[Sparky]

WIth respect to the objective case--I think you (in other words, I) only use the 'the' when the school name is "University of [x]" (or College of). Like, you would say, "I'm applying to Emory University", but "I'm applying to the College of William & Mary."

The suggestion about checking the website is a good one. Also, I'm pretty sure GW--George Washington--is another The school (The George Washington University; at least, that's what their buildings say).

ETA: In colloquial English, I often hear 'the' used in the nominative case, too, when the school name starts with 'University of." Like, "And the University of California at Berkeley would be a good choice." But at the same time, if you're acronym-izing--which you should not do in your SOP, it would be something like, "And UC Berkeley would be a good choice."

Don't stress too much, though--my current school is technically a 'University of,' although I have never heard *anyone* use it (even our acronym doesn't have a U at the beginning), and I don't think I *ever* used that in my SOP.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Sparky