I thought Tufts was good, but . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the west coast and have never heard of Middlebury or Bates. They’re regionally known at best.

Tbh, most educated elites do know about these schools.

[Anonymous]

Tufts is inherently hard to rank because it's such an odd fish. BC you compare other Catholic/Jesuit schools. BU you compare other big urban schools like NYU and GWU. But what school is like Tufts?

- historically affiliated with the defunct Universalist Church.
- endowed by P.T. Barnum
- a NESCAC, but not small and more than just a college
- graduate programs include veterinary, dentistry and diplomacy
- in the least college-town location you could imagine while still being in the immediate Boston area

It's a really odd school. There's no doubt the excellence is there, but it's difficult to assign an easy ranking given the lack of close comparables.

[Anonymous]

At the end on the day this school has dropped in ranking 5 years in a row. Whether you agree with th 40 ranking or not is a moot point, the school is stuck in a cycle.

[Anonymous]

Tufts had the chance to get stronger in Engineering which it was already good at and invest in CS. Or build a business school like Brown did. It did neither. It has not evolved with the times.

TBH I’m disappointed in the direction it’s headed.

-Alum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with above. I always considered tufts a respectable step down from Harvard and Williams, and on an individual student level more or less equal to duke, northwestern etc.
Anybody who thinks otherwise is just ignorant

This is crazy talk-Tufts is not in the same stratosphere as these top 10 research universities. Get a grip!

+1 million. Tufts is not even close to T25 let alone T10

How do you even know that? If you take the criteria solely on what people care about schools (actual graduation rates, class size, faculty salaries, faculty terminal degree, % of top students, alumni contributions--things that US News no longer ranks), it is certainly a tippy top school. Educate yourself so you know what is actually for your students.

use pre-test-optional SAT and ACT data: it is not elite as far as peer group. do an analysis of nobel alums or profs. Not even T75 in the world rankings. tufts is not close to an elite school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the west coast and have never heard of Middlebury or Bates. They’re regionally known at best.

UMass Amherst is much better known than Amherst College and most Americans think that Penn State is a better school than University of Pennsylvania. In fact, most have never heard of Williams or Bowdoin or Swarthmore or any SLACs. Says more about your social class and academic pedigree than the quality of these schools. If you know, you know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m from the west coast and have never heard of Middlebury or Bates. They’re regionally known at best.

UMass Amherst is much better known than Amherst College and most Americans think that Penn State is a better school than University of Pennsylvania. In fact, most have never heard of Williams or Bowdoin or Swarthmore or any SLACs. Says more about your social class and academic pedigree than the quality of these schools. If you know, you know.

Very much agree. Umass gets its name out there from its fantastic cs program. Amherst is just another liberal arts college, not a bad thing though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USNWR is meaningless

They change the metrics each year so people will continue to buy what they are selling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is inherently hard to rank because it's such an odd fish. BC you compare other Catholic/Jesuit schools. BU you compare other big urban schools like NYU and GWU. But what school is like Tufts?

- historically affiliated with the defunct Universalist Church.
- endowed by P.T. Barnum
- a NESCAC, but not small and more than just a college
- graduate programs include veterinary, dentistry and diplomacy
- in the least college-town location you could imagine while still being in the immediate Boston area

It's a really odd school. There's no doubt the excellence is there, but it's difficult to assign an easy ranking given the lack of close comparables.

I overheard this exact conversation at one of the tours. (You left out Tufts' medical school, though!!!)

It seems that the core Boston schools are much more affiliated with Boston, and many international students apply to those schools. BU has something like 25% international students, Northeastern has 15%. Tufts only has 7% international students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is inherently hard to rank because it's such an odd fish. BC you compare other Catholic/Jesuit schools. BU you compare other big urban schools like NYU and GWU. But what school is like Tufts?

- historically affiliated with the defunct Universalist Church.
- endowed by P.T. Barnum
- a NESCAC, but not small and more than just a college
- graduate programs include veterinary, dentistry and diplomacy
- in the least college-town location you could imagine while still being in the immediate Boston area

It's a really odd school. There's no doubt the excellence is there, but it's difficult to assign an easy ranking given the lack of close comparables.

Many of these are all reasons my DC loved it when we visited: “sweet spot” in terms of size (not too big, not too small), undergraduate focus but not a SLAC, a real campus but a T stop right there and you can be in Boston in 15 minutes…

[Anonymous]

Please do not put too much stock in rankings. There are plenty of great institutions of higher learning out there. Determine which schools would be a good fit for your interests and objectives. And whatever you do, do not discount the value of the alumni network. At the end of the day, all of these schools are highly selective. Figure out which ones work for you. Rankings and formulas are there for one thing...to sell magazines and online subscriptions.

[Anonymous]

What student life like at Tufts? On campus events/parties/focus or more city-focused where kids disperse into Boston at night and on weekends? Are there club sports or an athletic vibe in any way?

DC is very attracted to some of the academic programs at Tufts, but highly values a sporty, rah-rah kind of student body and heavy campus vibe. Is this a place where they can find both?