Guy lied about which university he went to

My ex did this. I didn’t have any reason to doubt him and in fact didn’t find out what he had said was a lie for four years.
I went to an “old poly” - I’m no university snob, so even 16 years after finding out the truth, I still can’t fathom why he lied about it.
but then, he did (and still does) have a tendency to tell fibs without even thinking about it. Pathological liar would be a bit harsh, but not far off!
From my experience, I would say it’s a red flag!

This is exactly what I do.
Although it became a university whilst I was there.

Not terribly deep? The guy got OP's spidey senses tingling, due to living in the area, so she checked it out.

This thread has actually been really interesting. DP and I were looking at post grad - MA and LPC. I can't remember which one of us it was but Oxford Brookes had the appropriate course. I was speaking to a colleague at the time who was wise and spoke very well so being 21, I assumed she knew everything - she said something along the lines of it being Brookes campus of the university of Oxford and I remember first questioning myself as I didn't think they were the same. Later, many people said Oxford uni instead of Oxford Brookes and I genuinely thought that was what people called it rather than them trying to seem better than what it was. Now I'm old and know better. Obv neither of us went there or indeed completed any post grad.

Did you look it up after he told you he went there? If so that would be a red flag that you are doing a deep dive 🙃

True! But the danger is that the lie becomes more concrete. And more disprovable. The vague reputation-enhancers probably won't have thought that far.

It is perfectly possible to look up a few college names, which you’d know any way if you were a student in the same city, and outright lie, though.

I’ve never encountered someone pretending to have gone to Oxford, but I often had people asking me ‘Which college?’ when they didn’t believe I was a current student (non-traditional background). For some reason the college name used to reassure them. Not entirely sure why, except perhaps they thought someone lying would have chosen a more obscure college?

As others have said, it could all depend on when he went. One of our big, local universities, Kingston University, was a poly up to 1992 and then it became a university. Now the university is so huge, Kingston probably qualifies as a university town.

I would be very wary! I know someone who met a guy who lied about himself to impress, he ended up cheating on her so be careful.

I guess depends.how he said it. I went to uni in Nottingham/Bristol or if said went go Bristol uni and was uwe. Both are university status now and have been for 30 ish years.

many people do this because "Uni people" tend to judge institutions when younger.
When ppl get older they care less.
Sometimes that odd 'oh' from someone is enough for you to not mention the institution again.
I went to a good uni....things happened ended up graduating from a lesser place near where I live , switching to a lesser degree.
The number of ppl who used to give that wry look made me wonder why I should allow them to do it .
So I mention the good uni I left and mention a degree that is better to certain crowds.
I figured out it's just easier

Me and my husband tell similar white lies all the time about where we went to Uni (same place) because it routinely scores very very low in league tables and it’s embarrassing. It was a total dump. We’ve obviously never done it when it matters ie for jobs but I think you researching it is more concerning frankly

Might depend on when too. My degree certificate clearly says 'Uni of...' because although I went to X X University College, my degree was accredited by the main Uni.

Anyone who says or mumbles that they went to "Oxford" or "Cambridge", just ask them which college they went to.

If the "Oxford" one says Brookes, then you know 😆

I suppose so. That said, she was involved in the process including visiting the unis. Who kniws?

I thought it might be Leicester but I don't think the geography was right.
I had an ex I am pretty sure lies about going to Cambridge because he wa really vague about it. Maybe he did go to the other Cambridge 😂

I went to the Oxford College of Further Education. Then it changed name to something like Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, but then it changed again to City of Oxford College.
When I fill in my information on websites, sometimes the original name isn't available on the lists, so I've put down all the names on different online forms.

...Aaaaaaah, @TimeandMotion - you've solved it! She was of Ghanaian heritage - but she definitely did her certificate at Preston Poly with the rest of us!

This is what it offers. Maybe she was just in a hurry, or mis-picked, or she got mixed up about what your ex-poly had been renamed as?

That's a good point, @TimeandMotion - I hadn't considered it could just be an auto-fill error. Ironic if it is, though, as our course and subsequent line of work included proofreading skills and emphasised the need for accuracy!

To be fair to her, is it possible that Linked In auto-offered her a pick list when she typed in Lanc… and she mistakenly selected the wrong one?

For ages my profile said I went to a school in NI that had the same name as my actual school. It even had a coat of arms but I just figured it had changed since I was there!

Not in my field, obviously!

One of my lecturers did get fired for not having a degree, though ... I imagine they'd verify before hiring these days.

Ha ha ha. "I lie on my CV, but please care about my integrity!" 😆

In my field you are required to provide degree certificates for all degrees, and I’m fairly sure there was something I needed to provide a full transcript for.

I wouldn't count upon LinkedIn for 100% accuracy.

Back in 1981/2, I did a one-year industrial training certificate at Preston Polytechnic. Ten years later, Preston Poly became the University of Central Lancashire.

One of my then-classmates proudly claims on her LinkedIn profile to have studied at "Lancaster University", complete with coat-of-arms of the University of Lancaster - not even UCLan! No dates of study given, just the initials of the training body whose certificate we both achieved, and a one-word subject description (a subject which to this very day is not offered as such at the University of Lancaster).

What a pointless, senseless little lie from a woman whose profile clearly shows she has over 40 years' experience in her field to be proud of.