Is Tufts underrated?
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Anonymous
Thank you! |
Anonymous
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Zero difference in terms of quality of undergraduate teaching and caliber of students between Tufts and schools like Wash U and Emory, which rank in the 20s. I am guessing it has to do with endowment. For many kids, the location more than makes up for whatever the impact the difference in endowment would have on their experience.
As for "school spirit", it is not a Michigan or Duke...but the kids I know there absolutely love it. |
Anonymous
| Someone asked about endowment. In addition to effect on ranking, I think it also really affects student experience. DC is at a WASP, and resources really matter — money for paid summer research or outside internships for first years, lots of money for research assistantships, well resourced and staffed quant center and writing center, career resources center, many student events, etc. I teach at a T5 and funded opportunities that seem pretty much available to all first years at the WASP are very competitive at the T5 and unheard of for first years. Big endowment goes a long way with a small student body; I don’t know what Tufts is like, but if endowment is much smaller it would likely affect these sorts of opportunities. |
Anonymous
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Tufts tends to rate more highly by selectivity than overall. This site, for example, placed Tufts 51st overall, but 30th by selectivity:
https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750 |
Anonymous
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I've toured it twice, and both times it left me cold. The admissions people were unenthusiastic; the info session, held in a drab and musty classroom, was like a lecture without the distraction of visual aids; and the entire campus struck me as kind of sad and run down.
Both of my kids loved it, though. |
Anonymous
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Tufts is and always has been strong. Ratings change criteria and will continue to change.
My niece at Tufts (engineering) loves it and is just as bright as my nephew at Michigan (engineering). Very different experiences, though, for very different people. Top to bottom, Tufts is probably stronger intellectually than UIUC but UIUC probably has a stronger Mech E program (I'm no engineer, though). |
Anonymous
| Overrated. Ok school but nothing like its boosters think in terms of general reputation. |
Anonymous
A good filter on DCUM is that you can immediately dismiss the opinion of any poster who uses the b word. |
Anonymous
| No. |
Anonymous
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It is indeed underrated. All of the state schools on the list are overrated. Maybe US News has it in for Boston area schools: BC is underrated, BU is underrated, and even Northeastern (famous for trying to game the U.S. News rankings before methodology changes) is now underrated.
If you want to be in New England, Tufts is great. People in New England are smahtah anyhow; they will be way more impressed with Tufts than University of California, San Diego, believe me. |
Anonymous
Good point. |
Anonymous
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I remember back in 2022, my older child's college counselor specifically gave advice not to apply for Tufts, because "basically impossible to get in if not doing ED". The child was applying from one FCPS high school.
Is it still real? |
Anonymous
Yes. Huge advantage applying there ED. Like Chicago in that way. |
Anonymous
Anecdotally, this is true for DS's NY private. He was considering Tufts at one point, and we learned that the percentage of applicants from his school who get in ED versus RD goes from about 40% to less than 10%. |
Anonymous
What makes you think that Lafayette is stronger? Not a knock on Lafayette, it’s a great school. |