I thought Tufts was good, but . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just starting to look as we have a junior DD. I've had both coworkers who have gone to Tufts and friends whose kids go there. They've all acted like Tufts is just a smaller version of Harvard or a bigger version of Williams. But I just read USNWR and it's 40, below BC and Rutgers! I feel like the joke's been on me all these years as I put up with the arrogance.

OP, you're embarrassing yourself here and probably do so in your office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP when were you applying to colleges? IME in the early 2000’s, Tufts was more desirable than BC because it would be grouped in with prestigious, culturally-similar SLACs like Williams.

I went to an elite high school close-ish to Boston and pretty much all of my friend group went to ivies, with some Gtown, Duke mixed in. In this environment Tufts was considered second-tier (out of let’s say 4) and totally respectable, while BU was definitely a safety and not too many people matriculated there.

I have never heard of “smaller version of Harvard” though and do think that’s hilarious.

Seems newcomers have their own narratives/versions of which schools are ranked where, in their arbitrary "rankings".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just starting to look as we have a junior DD. I've had both coworkers who have gone to Tufts and friends whose kids go there. They've all acted like Tufts is just a smaller version of Harvard or a bigger version of Williams. But I just read USNWR and it's 40, below BC and Rutgers! I feel like the joke's been on me all these years as I put up with the arrogance.

Tufts has always been above BC and Rutgers. Posting on DCUM does not change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are three sets of rankings on US news and world report that are helpful for figuring out a shotgun or application strategy

1. Ivy, ivy plus schools; ranked one through Vanderbilt.

2. Ivy minus schools and a few other top 25. Vanderbilt through NYU.

3. NYU and down.

These tiers have different levels of selectivity, different strategies with respect to applications, and just different levels of scrutiny.

Best tiering summary I have seen. Can you create a new post with this?

[Anonymous]

Even if you put stock in college rankings (which I don’t because they are the worst kind of pseudoscience) being 40th out of 4,000 colleges is still quite good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Threads created just to bash schools are so tiresome.

Tufts was ranked in the high 20s/low 30s for many years. The new US News ranking formula moved a lot of privates downward and publics upward. The quality of Tufts didn't change from 2022 to 2023.

+1

IYKYK. People who know do not post these ridiculous threads - but keep checking your "rankings", OP!

+2

As a graduate of another school that took a tumble in the rankings this year due to the new formula, I in no way think the quality of the school itself slipped.

U or Rochester? I know it tumbled.
I'm curious why BC didn't get whacked in the same way - solely because of its being one of the most expensive colleges in the US and not known for amazing financial or merit aid.
But I haven't studied the new USNWR metrics enough to know.

no, but unfortunately, my alma mater is not known for much financial aid. It has become a lot more "rich kid only" since I attended in the 90s. Still a good school academically, but that was probably why it tumbled in the rankings this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if you put stock in college rankings (which I don’t because they are the worst kind of pseudoscience) being 40th out of 4,000 colleges is still quite good.

💯

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are three sets of rankings on US news and world report that are helpful for figuring out a shotgun or application strategy

1. Ivy, ivy plus schools; ranked one through Vanderbilt.

2. Ivy minus schools and a few other top 25. Vanderbilt through NYU.

3. NYU and down.

These tiers have different levels of selectivity, different strategies with respect to applications, and just different levels of scrutiny.

Best tiering summary I have seen. Can you create a new post with this?

What’s the strategy for each tier? Figure out which schools are likelies/targets/reaches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are three sets of rankings on US news and world report that are helpful for figuring out a shotgun or application strategy

1. Ivy, ivy plus schools; ranked one through Vanderbilt.

2. Ivy minus schools and a few other top 25. Vanderbilt through NYU.

3. NYU and down.

These tiers have different levels of selectivity, different strategies with respect to applications, and just different levels of scrutiny.

Best tiering summary I have seen. Can you create a new post with this?

I think there are 4 tiers not 3. And yes app strategy for each tier is different.

[Anonymous]

Yes. If you don’t care about class size, quality of undergrad teaching and whether classes are taught by TAs or professors, and care a lot about % of students who are Pell Grant eligible, then you need to send your kid to a huge state school and write off the medium sized privates (Tufts, Wake Forest, Tulane) and W&M, all of which got creamed by USNWR’s new DEI focus. Or, you could sit and ask yourself why colleges with higher average SATs/ ACTs and GPAs, with almost no TAs and small class size and high marked for undergrad teaching and ranked below schools with lower stats, huge classes, and TAs everywhere. Does that make sense? Is it what you want for your kid? Wake, Tulane, Tufts, WM— these schools didn’t suddenly become 20 spots worse in one year. They just don’t play the DEI game. Or, they don’t play it well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just starting to look as we have a junior DD. I've had both coworkers who have gone to Tufts and friends whose kids go there. They've all acted like Tufts is just a smaller version of Harvard or a bigger version of Williams. But I just read USNWR and it's 40, below BC and Rutgers! I feel like the joke's been on me all these years as I put up with the arrogance.

Your coworkers AND friends’ kids all have the same perspective of a school generations apart!?


Also, if you have (plural) kids of friends that attend!? What an impressive circle of friends; maybe your DD should apply and will be lucky and get in as well. It may make sense to wait and make the decision on whether your kid really wants to accept offer and attend or not at that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just starting to look as we have a junior DD. I've had both coworkers who have gone to Tufts and friends whose kids go there. They've all acted like Tufts is just a smaller version of Harvard or a bigger version of Williams. But I just read USNWR and it's 40, below BC and Rutgers! I feel like the joke's been on me all these years as I put up with the arrogance.

It's hard to get into, and that used to be one criterion of quality for USNWR. Tufts isn't the only school that was hurt when that changed. It is still highly rejective, so if that matters a lot to you, don't worry, Tufts hasn't changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are three sets of rankings on US news and world report that are helpful for figuring out a shotgun or application strategy

1. Ivy, ivy plus schools; ranked one through Vanderbilt.

2. Ivy minus schools and a few other top 25. Vanderbilt through NYU.

3. NYU and down.

These tiers have different levels of selectivity, different strategies with respect to applications, and just different levels of scrutiny.

Best tiering summary I have seen. Can you create a new post with this?

Actually this is a bed summary, because it includes only those colleges that might be mini-institutions within universities. Might be applicable in Europe, etc. but not in the States.

[Anonymous]

^ my "bad" lol

[Anonymous]

Accepted at Princeton, brown, Amherst, BC, and Barnard. Waitlisted at tufts.