Tufts

[Anonymous]

Two good friends had super smart serious daughters go to Tufts. Think it first choice for both. Had the impression they really liked it. One is premed and one is poli science/intl relations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Huh? I'd argue it's totally overshadowed by its neighbours Harvard and MIT

It is certainly, but it's location helps it a ton. Replace Tufts with Vandy, Emory, Wash and Lee, WashU, UVA even location wise and it wouldn't be top 50. Tufts only has 2 top 20 programs (I just checked) Vet medicine and occupational therapy. It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is, a feeder for NE prep school students.

[Anonymous]

My DS is really interested in Tufts and we have family that went there as well. I find the campus to be a little blah BUT I think there’s way to much emphasis on what a campus looks like, architecture, etc I mean a beautiful campus is nice but doesn’t really impact the day to day experience much.

Why my DS is interested and why I think it’s a good choice:

Small, but not as small as a lot of SLACs

Solid in a variety of areas since DS is undecided, solid sciences and premed and solid poli sci, Econ, etc

Not a party school and little Greek life, neither would fit DH

Urban enough but not too smack in the middle of a city

[Anonymous]

I live in New England and would say Tufts is definitely a highly desirable school for kids with strong academic backgrounds. It’s not a safety anymore, it is certainly well regarded in the region. We visited a few years ago and my DD was applying and she liked it a lot, it would’ve been a place she would have been very happy to go to if her other choices didn’t come through. If somebody wants a city school like BU or Northeastern they won’t like the Taos campus, but if somebody wants more self-contained campus experience with good access to city amenities it’s a great choice..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Huh? I'd argue it's totally overshadowed by its neighbours Harvard and MIT

It is certainly, but it's location helps it a ton. Replace Tufts with Vandy, Emory, Wash and Lee, WashU, UVA even location wise and it wouldn't be top 50. Tufts only has 2 top 20 programs (I just checked) Vet medicine and occupational therapy. It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is, a feeder for NE prep school students.

Nutrition is #4, Cinflict mgmt is 20ish, Biology is ranked high in some rankings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Huh? I'd argue it's totally overshadowed by its neighbours Harvard and MIT

It is certainly, but it's location helps it a ton. Replace Tufts with Vandy, Emory, Wash and Lee, WashU, UVA even location wise and it wouldn't be top 50. Tufts only has 2 top 20 programs (I just checked) Vet medicine and occupational therapy. It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is,a feeder for NE prep school students.

I don’t know anything about Tufts, but location always affects a school’s appeal, and therefore its selectivity, doesn’t it? I went to Stanford, which I chose largely because of the location.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m the OP. I suppose I could be unhinged, though no one has certified me as such.

Yes, my sister asked me for help. Otherwise, why on earth would I be involved in this process?!

I am close to my niece and also have more education under my belt than the rest of my family, so I’m the default advice-giver.

Obviously once my niece seriously starts this process she will also have her GC. I told her anything I say (or her mom, for that matter) is just surface advice and she needs to talk through all of this with him/her/them.

I have read the online reviews, etc. Frankly they don’t sound all that positive. When I look at similar schools the culture just seems so much more positive. That’s why I was asking here if people had personal experiences. Maybe it’s better IRL than what I read on paper.

Hi OP-

You got out in a tough spot no matter what you say. What is your current perception of schools that would be similar to Tufts and have any schools stuck out as potentially interesting options?

[Anonymous]

Tufts is a pretty popular at local privates for reasons mentioned above. Smaller but not tiny. Close to big city, but still has a discrete campus. Good academics but not known to be cut throat. All the alumni I know loved their experience there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Huh? I'd argue it's totally overshadowed by its neighbours Harvard and MIT

It is certainly, but it's location helps it a ton. Replace Tufts with Vandy, Emory, Wash and Lee, WashU, UVA even location wise and it wouldn't be top 50. Tufts only has 2 top 20 programs (I just checked) Vet medicine and occupational therapy. It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is,a feeder for NE prep school students.

I don’t know anything about Tufts, but location always affects a school’s appeal, and therefore its selectivity, doesn’t it? I went to Stanford, which I chose largely because of the location.

Yes, you're right but that's the point. There are schools in much less socially desirable places that are ranked much higher. Emory is in Atlanta, Rice is in Houston, Vanderbilt in NASHVILLE?!, Notre Dame in South Bend etc. If Tufts was in Alabama or Georgia instead in Massachusetts, the wealthy NE'ers would not flock to it. Tufts doesn't have to work as hard or be as academically or socially renowned as the other schools to get top students.

[Anonymous]

My kid said that Tufts is known for kids who didn’t get into Ivies.

That said, it seems like a great school, and will disagree with previous posters….we went to look in April, and it is a beautiful campus, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure what to make of it. In the 70s it almost went bankrupt. Now it seems more like a liberal arts undergrad school with a university title due to its med schools and such.

It’s decently ranked, but not that high.

It seems like a fine enough school, but what is the real attraction if you aren’t pre-med? It’s near Boston but not in it. It’s an okay campus but not great.

My sister wants her DD to apply there to be relatively close to home. But it just seems like the kind of place where there is no there there. I’d like to help sell it to my niece but am hard-pressed. She is a quiet hardworking kid but not Ivy or MIT level. I just don’t get Tufts though to even try to sell it to her.

If you went there, did you like it? What was the draw?

Unless your niece has a Nobel Prize, she won’t really get to CHOOSE a school like Tufts; the school will choose to bestow admission on her as an act of grace.

Assuming she has decent stats (over 1500 on the SATs; 3.8 unweighted GPA, with a lot of APs; finishing with at least Calculus AB for humanities and social sciences, and at least Calculus BC for math; and either at least 1550 on the SATs or else impressive activities), then she could consider applying to
Wash. U., Tufts, Rice, the University of Rochester, NYU and Emory, and maybe she’ll get into one or two, especially if she’s applying for social sciences or the humanities.

If she likes those kinds of serious, midsize schools, then she could put schools like Case Western and Brandeis in a second tier of applications.

For most non-poor white or Asian kids who don’t have family ties to super selective schools, who don’t have the support of prep school guidance counselors, and who haven’t been in the newspaper or on the radio for some accomplishment, applying to any schools more selective than those is like buying a lottery ticket. The appeal of a Tufts, relative to Harvard, is that the education is comparable, and it’s possible to go to Tufts. It’s not possible to go to
Harvard.

The simple solution is to aim for solid, slightly less selective stats flagships, like the University of Wisconsin or UVA, but that might seem like a disappointing strategy for kids who hate drinking, hate football and basketball, and want to be around a geekier bunch of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Huh? I'd argue it's totally overshadowed by its neighbours Harvard and MIT

It is certainly, but it's location helps it a ton. Replace Tufts with Vandy, Emory, Wash and Lee, WashU, UVA even location wise and it wouldn't be top 50. Tufts only has 2 top 20 programs (I just checked) Vet medicine and occupational therapy. It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is,a feeder for NE prep school students.

I don’t know anything about Tufts, but location always affects a school’s appeal, and therefore its selectivity, doesn’t it? I went to Stanford, which I chose largely because of the location.

Yes, you're right but that's the point. There are schools in much less socially desirable places that are ranked much higher. Emory is in Atlanta, Rice is in Houston, Vanderbilt in NASHVILLE?!, Notre Dame in South Bend etc. If Tufts was in Alabama or Georgia instead in Massachusetts, the wealthy NE'ers would not flock to it. Tufts doesn't have to work as hard or be as academically or socially renowned as the other schools to get top students.

Tufts can attract a high performing cohort of students in part due to its location therefore it “doesn’t try as hard” and is overrated doesn’t compute to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Huh? I'd argue it's totally overshadowed by its neighbours Harvard and MIT

It is certainly, but it's location helps it a ton. Replace Tufts with Vandy, Emory, Wash and Lee, WashU, UVA even location wise and it wouldn't be top 50. Tufts only has 2 top 20 programs (I just checked) Vet medicine and occupational therapy. It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is,a feeder for NE prep school students.

I don’t know anything about Tufts, but location always affects a school’s appeal, and therefore its selectivity, doesn’t it? I went to Stanford, which I chose largely because of the location.

Yes, you're right but that's the point. There are schools in much less socially desirable places that are ranked much higher. Emory is in Atlanta, Rice is in Houston, Vanderbilt in NASHVILLE?!, Notre Dame in South Bend etc. If Tufts was in Alabama or Georgia instead in Massachusetts, the wealthy NE'ers would not flock to it. Tufts doesn't have to work as hard or be as academically or socially renowned as the other schools to get top students.

I have no idea whether Tufts administrators or faculty "work as hard" as those at the other schools you mention, but don't you think the caliber of students makes a difference in the quality of education?

[Anonymous]

I always liked the name...TUFFFTSSSS. It sounds elite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Huh? I'd argue it's totally overshadowed by its neighbours Harvard and MIT

It is certainly, but it's location helps it a ton. Replace Tufts with Vandy, Emory, Wash and Lee, WashU, UVA even location wise and it wouldn't be top 50. Tufts only has 2 top 20 programs (I just checked) Vet medicine and occupational therapy. It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is, a feeder for NE prep school students.

If you go by what schools have top 20 programs across the board, you’ll find many top 20 schools don’t. Still can’t understand why Duke is ranked so high for example.