Tag: Education

Summer School

MADELINE: You doing the summer school thing too?
RORY: Uh, yeah.

In North America, schools and universities can offer academic programs which take place during the summer vacation. In high school, students may enrol in classes for credit which can improve their grade point average or be included on their academic record. Summer school can either make up for credits lost through absence or failure, accelerate progress, or lighten the course load for the year.

Summer school usually lasts for 3-5 weeks, although Louise complains about spending “the summer” at Chilton; she’s probably exaggerating. You don’t normally have to wear a school uniform to summer school, so Chilton is very unusual in expecting this. In fact, most schools make money by attracting students from outside their school, especially international students, so a uniform would actually by impractical.

Rory missed the first few weeks of the academic year at Chilton, and at first struggled to keep up, so it makes sense for her to enrol in summer school.

Princess Grace

PARIS: You have to go to college.
LOUISE: Princess Grace didn’t go to college.

Princess Grace, born Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was an American actress who began her career on television and starred in several Alfred Hitchcock films, such as Dial M for Murder (1953), Rear Window (1953), and To Catch a Thief (1955). She also starred in the classic western High Noon (1952) and the musical High Society (1956), winning a Best Actress at the Academy Awards for The Country Girl (1954).

She retired from acting to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956, becoming Princess Grace of Monaco, and having three children. As a princess, she founded children’s charity AMADE, formed the Princess Grace Foundation for artisans in Monaco, and became known as a fashion icon, being inducted into the Best Dressed Hall of Fame in 1960.

Louise is correct – Princess Grace, who came from a wealthy family and attended prestigious private schools, was rejected by Bennington College in 1947, due to her low scores in Mathematics. However, she graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, the oldest acting school in the English-speaking world, so she did have a distinguished tertiary education.

Vassar

MADELINE: If I don’t improve my French grades, I can kiss Vassar goodbye.

Vassar College is a private, liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded as a women’s college in 1861 by philanthropist Matthew Vassar, it became co-educational in 1969. It is one of the Seven Sisters, seven elite liberal arts colleges in the northeast of the United States that were originally founded for women. Vassar offers B.A. Degrees in more than fifty subjects and a flexible curriculum, and is one of the the top liberal arts colleges in the United States. It has a reputation for being cool and hipster, which might be what attracts Madeline to the idea of going there.

Apparently Madeline never did improve her French grades, as she did not go on to attend Vassar College.

Phi Beta Bimbo

LORELAI: They’re gonna get to watch you walk down the aisle wearing your cap and gown and get your diploma and go to Harvard and be a Phi Beta Bimbo and graduate with honors and just set the world on fire.

Lorelai is referring to college fraternities and sororities, also known as Greek letter societies, as they always have names consisting of Greek letters. Several begin with Phi Beta, and Lorelai adds a “Bimbo” to show what she thinks of the female students who would join such an elitist sorority.

Dodgeball

RICHARD: You know, when I was ten years old, I knew exactly where I wanted to work.
LORELAI: That’s because you were always picked last for Dodgeball.

Dodgeball is a game where two teams throw balls at each other while trying to avoid being hit themselves. The main objective is to remove the opposing team entirely by either hitting them, catching the balls they throw, or forcing them to move from the court to avoid being hit.

For many years, it was a popular choice for Physical Education classes in the US, but recently has come under scrutiny because of its potential for bullying and injury, and some schools have modified, phased it out, or banned it.

In Dodgeball the smallest, least confident, least agile, and least athletic participants are generally eliminated first, so they are usually the last to be picked for a team. Lorelai is saying her father at ten years old would have been the kind of wimpy nerd who is bullied in Physical Education class.

J. Edgar Hoover

RICHARD: Rory, wonderful news. You finished in the top three percent of your class.
LORELAI: Oh yeah, Dad, J. Edgar Hoover over here was just telling us.

John Edgar Hoover (1895-1972) was the first Director of the FBI, and instrumental in its founding in 1935. Lorelai is making fun of her mother’s “spy work” in discovering that Rory is in the top 3% of her class from Bitty Charleston, the headmaster’s wife.

Rory had got herself into the top 10% by the time of the midterm exams, and now the top 3% by the time she completed her final exams for the year. This rise is remarkable, and not very believable in a prestigious school full of excellent students. She started late, began the year getting a D and missing a vital test in her best subject, English Literature, and only got a B+ for her Biology midterms – surely that would bring her average down a bit further than that?

Osmosis and Telescope

PARIS: You didn’t take one note. You resorting to the osmosis theory of learning?
RORY: Why do you care?
PARIS: I don’t, just making an observation.
RORY: Great, we’ll build a dome over you and jam a telescope in your head.

In science, osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules through semi-permeable membrane; it’s a vital process in biological systems, and is the primary means by which water is transported in and out of cells.

Social osmosis is the indirect infusion of social or cultural knowledge without direct knowledge – an example would be knowing all about the latest blockbuster movie, such as the plot, setting, all the characters and actors playing them, without ever actually watching the movie. Paris seems to be suggesting that this is how Rory is planning to learn about Henry James.

Rory’s retort is saying that if Paris is going to make observations, she can have a dome and a telescope – like an astronomical observatory.

Sarah Lawrence

MADELINE: Hey Paris. Louise hates you.
PARIS: You’ll thank me when you get into Sarah Lawrence.
LOUISE: Wanna bet?

Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the city of Yonkers, New York. It was founded in 1926 as a women’s college, but became co-educational in 1968. Sarah Lawrence is known for its highly individualised course of study modelled on the Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one tutoring, and places a high value on independent study. It also has a history of political activism and volunteering, and is considered to be one of the most progressive colleges when it comes to social causes. It is also one of the most expensive colleges to attend.

It is not clear from Paris’ statement whether Louise is hoping to get into Sarah Lawrence, or whether it’s where Paris thinks she should apply, in the same way she told Rory she should go to Brandeis. Louise’s reply suggests it’s not her preferred option, but she may just be cranky about coming to school on a weekend.

Yale

TRIX: Richard, how can you allow this girl to go to Harvard?!
RICHARD: Now, Trix –
TRIX: You’re a Yale man, your father was a Yale man!

Yale University is a private co-educational Ivy League university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1701, making it the third-oldest university in the United States.

We learn here that attending Yale is something of a Gilmore family tradition, with both Richard and his father being Yale alumni. Later, Rory would follow in their footsteps and attend the same university.

(Incidentally, it seems even more implausible that ten generations of Paris’ family went to Harvard, while only two generations of Gilmores went to Yale).