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What happens when a quick-witted college girl treats every rule as an invitation to test its limits?
Patty Wyatt has plenty of energy for college, though studying is only part of her plan. With her close friend Priscilla beside her, she turns campus life into a string of schemes and adventures. Classmates bring friendship and rivalry; teachers and officials try to keep order when Patty sees another chance for mischief.
In When Patty Went to College, Jean Webster draws on the dormitories, lectures and friendships she knows from Vassar College. Short, funny episodes take the place of one tightly built plot. Beneath the jokes lies a warmer question: how do young women make an education their own while learning to think for themselves?
What you’ll discover
- A mind for mischief Meet a restless heroine whose sharp wit turns rules into possibilities for another scheme.
- Friendship at the center Follow Patty and Priscilla through shared days, lively plans and the pleasures of close companionship.
- Campus rivalries and loyalties Step into a college world where classmates supply both allies and targets for cheerful mischief.
- High spirits meet authority Watch teachers and officials try to hold the line against Patty's appetite for adventure.
- More beneath the laughter Discover young women taking education seriously without surrendering their jokes, friendships or independence of mind.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy quick, funny dialogue, campus stories, clever heroines who bend the rules, close friendships, and short comic episodes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Patty starts by bending the rules
- Ordinary days become comic adventures
- A small invention grows beyond control
- Missing facts invite mistaken stories
- Patty turns her attention toward Olivia
- Patty gets caught in her stories
- Kindness gives cleverness a better direction
- Friendship gives the year its meaning
- High spirits leave room for warmth
Who’s who
- Patty WyattA quick-witted senior who bluffs her way through classes and rules with charm and wants every day to hold an adventure.
- Priscilla PondPatty's athletic, practical roommate, who plays the conscience of study 399 and keeps trying to hold her friend to the truth.
- Georgie MerrilesA pessimistic friend from Dakota who sings in the glee club, plays the comb and manages the senior play.
- PetersThe short, bowlegged janitor with a red beard, who enforces the dormitory rules and frightens nearly everyone.
- Olivia CopelandA gifted, homesick freshman from near Sorrento who is failing her classes and longs to go back to Italy.
- Miss PrescottThe stern mathematics instructor whom students believe has no heart, and who quietly loves Italy herself.
- Cathy FairThe trusted president of the Student Association, admired for plain speaking and for honesty in work and play.
- Lucille CarterA virtuous, literal-minded classmate who believes every story she hears, to the delight of the game of local color.
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When Patty Went to College in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
When Patty Went to College
by Jean Webster · 1903
Patty Wyatt charms the janitor, invents a student who does not exist and fakes an illness, all in her senior year.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“Local color is what makes a lie seem true.”
In short
Imagine a senior who wants to paint her dormitory floor black, hang red cloth on the walls and take her closet door off its hinges. Every one of these things is against the rules, and she never asks permission.
When Patty Went to College at a glance
- Reading time
- About 2 h 25 min1 h 55 min fast, 2 h 55 min slow
- Length
- 35,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1903by Jean Webster
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Patty wins the janitor with charm, not permission
The book opens in a room in chaos. Patty Wyatt and her roommate Priscilla Pond share study 399 in Phillips Hall, and Patty has decided that the grass-green carpet must go. She will paint the floor black and cover the walls with red printed cotton.
Peters, the bowlegged janitor with a red pointed beard, enforces the decorating rules, and even the president of the college is said to fear him. She never asks.
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Details
- First published
- 1903
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Webster, Jean. When Patty Went to College. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/when-patty-went-to-college.
Webster, J. (2026). When Patty went to college. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/when-patty-went-to-college (Original work published 1903)
Webster, Jean. When Patty Went to College. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/when-patty-went-to-college.
@book{webster2026when,
author = {Webster, Jean},
title = {When Patty Went to College},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/when-patty-went-to-college},
note = {First published 1903}
}
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What is When Patty Went to College about?
It follows Patty Wyatt through her senior year at a women's college. She charms the janitor, bluffs in class, tells wild stories and helps a lonely freshman, while her friends watch and sometimes pay for her jokes.
Who are Priscilla, Georgie and the Twin in the book?
Priscilla Pond is Patty's roommate and the voice of reason. Georgie Merriles is her pessimistic friend from Dakota. The Bartlet Twin is a classmate nicknamed Twin for a reason lost to history, and she is often at tea.
What does local color mean in When Patty Went to College?
It is a game the seniors play at table. Patty defines it as what makes a lie seem true. Players tell the biggest tale they can and must admit it before leaving, though the rule is often forgotten.
The author
Jean Webster
1876–1916 · American novelist
Jean Webster was the pen name of Alice Jane Chandler Webster, an American novelist born in Fredonia, New York, in 1876. She later lived in New York City, where she died in 1916. Her novels include When Patty Went to College (1903), Daddy-Long-Legs (1912), and Dear Enemy (1915).
“Local color is what makes a lie seem true.”
More by Jean Webster
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