what did I miss at Tufts?

[Anonymous]

We did a swing around New England this break and learned a lot, got a vibe check at a half dozen campuses. Some colleges surprised a bit to the upside or a bit the downside.

Then there was Tufts.

What is going on there? It was so dull, the architecture looked blah, the food was terrible, the dining room was leaking. the kids all seemed bored, sitting alone (except for some teams that were eating together). No life on campus - my kid asked if they were on break. The information session was .. okay. The tour was ridiculously boring.

I know people like Tufts. What did we miss?

[Anonymous]

I only know it from a perspective of having gone to MIT. My assessment was similar, but I did have friends that went for grad school and liked it.

[Anonymous]

They have some dual programs with some good music schools.

[Anonymous]

Tufts always seems like people's Plan B.

Or a very cautious (or athlete) kid's ED.

Tufts was the one campus I saw a ton of sweatshirts from other schools. I hate that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did a swing around New England this break and learned a lot, got a vibe check at a half dozen campuses. Some colleges surprised a bit to the upside or a bit the downside.

Then there was Tufts.

What is going on there? It was so dull, the architecture looked blah, the food was terrible, the dining room was leaking. the kids all seemed bored, sitting alone (except for some teams that were eating together). No life on campus - my kid asked if they were on break. The information session was .. okay. The tour was ridiculously boring.

I know people like Tufts. What did we miss?

Nothing.

[Anonymous]

NEU, BU and BC have been stealing Tufts' lunch money for the past decade.

[Anonymous]

We visited boston area schools and had the similar impression. The school is declining while BU BC NU are rising.

[Anonymous]

Both my kids visited and neither of them liked it. One didn't even do the tour after attending the info session. Maybe it is just a love it or hate it kind of place. Even between my two kids some schools resonated and others didn't.

[Anonymous]

Their applicant quality hasn't waned. Since BU and NEU are in the city, and BC is kind of in the city, its location has some looking elsewhere.

SAT 25%-75%

Tufts 1460-1540
BC 1430-1510
BU 1450-1500
NEU 1450-1535

[Anonymous]

The only draws are Boston and name recognition.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a Tufts booster and I think it used to be sort of a second choice school for many or even most of its undergrad student body. But that has changed as everything has gotten more competitive. And Tufts hits a sweet spot of a medium-sized (mostly) liberal arts undergrad education with the advantage of excellent grad programs. The T is coming on campus, and Somerville/Davis Square is very popular with Gen Z locals. But it's always getting bad reviews here; I don't really get it.

[Anonymous]

It’s amazing if you want engineering but also have other (very different) interests. Their approach to engineering is unique and one that can potentially help more kids make it through. Other than that I agree that it’s meh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both my kids visited and neither of them liked it. One didn't even do the tour after attending the info session. Maybe it is just a love it or hate it kind of place. Even between my two kids some schools resonated and others didn't.

We visited Summer of 2021. They had 2 tours a day, with only 30 or so spots per tour. We tried to sign up 2 months before and couldn't get a spot. So we toured several other Boston Schools, and did a "self tour", which was entirely outside. My kid didn't learn anything more than the "online tour" because we were just walking outside listening to the exact same tour.
Turned my kid off to the school. They were WL and had no interest in touring it in over Spring break of 2022 when decision making. The only real attraction was Boston (vs smaller/not as nice locations of their 4 other choices) In the end, I'm glad they WL my kid, because I don't think they really liked it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a Tufts booster and I think it used to be sort of a second choice school for many or even most of its undergrad student body. But that has changed as everything has gotten more competitive. And Tufts hits a sweet spot of a medium-sized (mostly) liberal arts undergrad education with the advantage of excellent grad programs. The T is coming on campus, and Somerville/Davis Square is very popular with Gen Z locals. But it's always getting bad reviews here; I don't really get it.

It's a "2nd choice school" for those that apply to several T20/25 schools (tufts is ~30). So it's just below those, but not really because it's acceptance rate is still single digits.

[Anonymous]

The thing with Tufts is it is living off of a legacy reputation and it has not kept up with the changing times. It is good at Engineering others are better. It is pretty good at CS others are better. No Business School nor a minor. (Meanwhile Rice and Brown added these). It’s solid at international relations but Georgetown in better. Tufts used to be where ivy rejects went. These days high stats kids have a lot more appealing options and Tufts is going to keep dropping.