Tufts - questions (ranking, low acceptance rate, comparable schools - why?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely visit. We visited Tufts, BC, Northeastern and BU and my kid didn’t like the feeling of Tufts at all. They and their sibling both found the surrounding neighborhood bland and boring, too.

Did they go to Davis Square which is a big hangout for Tufts students. And the green line of the subway brings you to Boston quickly and Harvard Square when switched to red line. I’d think people would like a quiet place to attend class and study. When it’s time to go out get on the subway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely visit. We visited Tufts, BC, Northeastern and BU and my kid didn’t like the feeling of Tufts at all. They and their sibling both found the surrounding neighborhood bland and boring, too.

This is a fascinatingly stupid basis on which to choose where to get your education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts has finance minor. We're scheduled for tour this summer with business major minded son, who also wants to study history and foreign language and do study abroad.

Go with Boston College.

+1. For business/finance, this isn't a close call.

Unless you’re not Catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts has finance minor. We're scheduled for tour this summer with business major minded son, who also wants to study history and foreign language and do study abroad.

Go with Boston College.

+1. For business/finance, this isn't a close call.

Unless you’re not Catholic.

What about Catholic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is facing some financial headwinds. For those who are into this, this letter from them last month gives some clarity on this issue:

https://www.tufts.edu/president/speeches-and-messages/04112024-Update-on-University-Finances

Some of the challenges aren't unique to Tufts, but it is reflective of the competition that it faces with the other Boston schools.

I’m not sure any of the four reasons identified in the link you posted reflects “competition that it faces with other Boston schools.”

Is the softening in the market for residential masters programs really because of prospective students opting between a middling grad program (outside of a few exceptions) at tufts and another middling program at another Boston area school? I imagine it is more likely due to a broader weakening of demand US wide for expensive non-MBA masters programs that saddle kids with debt and don’t yield an ROI worthy of that cost.

2 of the other 3 are purely related to inflation, which is not Tufts specific.

The increased competition for faculty *might* be because faculty are choosing other schools (more likely fewer are trying to run the now near impossible tenure track gauntlet and don’t want to be paid a pittance with no job security). Tufts might very well be on the decline (or maybe not?) but the link doesn’t support the proposition that any such decline is attributable to local competition…

The bigger issue is that it, like many other non-state subsided schools or those pulling in a ton of sports-related money (eg broadcast rights), is too dang expensive if you aren’t getting a ton of aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely visit. We visited Tufts, BC, Northeastern and BU and my kid didn’t like the feeling of Tufts at all. They and their sibling both found the surrounding neighborhood bland and boring, too.

This is a fascinatingly stupid basis on which to choose where to get your education.

You are weird.
Location and overall vibe is a part of major factors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts has finance minor. We're scheduled for tour this summer with business major minded son, who also wants to study history and foreign language and do study abroad.

Go with Boston College.

+1. For business/finance, this isn't a close call.

Unless you’re not Catholic.

Depends. A third of the student body isn't Catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts has finance minor. We're scheduled for tour this summer with business major minded son, who also wants to study history and foreign language and do study abroad.

Go with Boston College.

+1. For business/finance, this isn't a close call.

Unless you’re not Catholic.

Depends. A third of the student body isn't Catholic.

My point was a counterpoint to the “not even a close call post.” would imagine that for most non-Catholics (even those that decide to go to BC), it is a significant factor in their decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts would have been a near peer of WashU, Vandy, Emory 10-15 years ago. Not today.

The school on this list that doesn’t belong is Vandy. The other three are peer schools.

They are not no matter how you slice or dice it. Vandy WashU Emory are peer schools. Tufts is peers with BC UNC Georgia tech.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if I am 100% accurate, but it seems that Tufts competes more with a Colby or Wesleyan than a BC, or BU or Northeastern. They might attract on paper roughly the same quality of student, but Tufts' size seems to be a pro or a con for certain students.

BC being heavily catholic is the de facto school for northeast catholics who maybe can't do Notre Dame or Georgetown.

BU and Northeastern seem to be close competitors with one another.

[Anonymous]

From our private, if a kid applies to Wash U they are almost certainly applying to Tufts and Emory (and vice versa). These three seem to appeal to the same kids (probably due to size, “real campus” near/in cities). There is less (though some) overlap with Vandy…almost none with BC.

There are a few kids who apply to all the Boston schools too…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts has finance minor. We're scheduled for tour this summer with business major minded son, who also wants to study history and foreign language and do study abroad.

Go with Boston College.

+1. For business/finance, this isn't a close call.

Unless you’re not Catholic.

Why would this matter to a finance major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts has finance minor. We're scheduled for tour this summer with business major minded son, who also wants to study history and foreign language and do study abroad.

Go with Boston College.

+1. For business/finance, this isn't a close call.

Unless you’re not Catholic.

Why would this matter to a finance major?

LOL. And we are Catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts would have been a near peer of WashU, Vandy, Emory 10-15 years ago. Not today.

The school on this list that doesn’t belong is Vandy. The other three are peer schools.

They are not no matter how you slice or dice it. Vandy WashU Emory are peer schools. Tufts is peers with BC UNC Georgia tech.

Neither Emory or Wash U is as anywhere near as selective as Vandy right now but they are both as selective as Tufts, sorry, Emory mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts would have been a near peer of WashU, Vandy, Emory 10-15 years ago. Not today.

The school on this list that doesn’t belong is Vandy. The other three are peer schools.

They are not no matter how you slice or dice it. Vandy WashU Emory are peer schools. Tufts is peers with BC UNC Georgia tech.

this makes no sense.

- Tufts is much smaller than the schools PP listed above.
- Nobody would say Tufts and Georgia Tech are peer schools. They are completely different.
- Out of state, UNC acceptance rate is around 5 percent, more competitive than any of the other schools listed.