Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 11:46     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Overrated, super woke, sad campus. Kids still like it there though! And Boston.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 11:45     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
I went there and it was phenomenal for international relations because of the Fletcher school. Also good premed. I think it wouldn't be a great school for engineering, stem, computer science
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 11:43     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:For mechanical engineering, I'd think a school such as, say, Lafayette would be stronger.


What makes you think that Lafayette is stronger? Not a knock on Lafayette, it’s a great school.

My original comment was mostly a personal opinion. Nonetheless, I might recommend Lafayette for mechanical engineering based partly on the quality of its science lab facilities. This site, for example, includes Lafayette, along with schools such as Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Rose-Hulman and Lehigh — schools I also would recommend for mechanical engineering:

Best Colleges for Science Lab Facilities | The Princeton Review https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/?rankings=best-science-lab-facilities

If a student likes Tufts for its general attributes, however, I'd say go for it, including for mechanical engineering.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 11:43     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote:UFlorida is much better school than BC. Tufts is also better than BC by a wide margin.

Tell us you are not from the northeast without telling us you are not from the northeast.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 11:31     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
UFlorida is much better school than BC. Tufts is also better than BC by a wide margin.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 11:14     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote:Its overrated.


+1. If anything, it's overrated.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 10:52     Subject: Re:Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote: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.


I think this is the right way to look at it.

But I am over 50 so my thinking may be dated. As an example, is Florida really a better school than BC?
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 10:50     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote: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.

The student quality might be the same, but the research, job placement, and the reputation is not.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 10:48     Subject: Re:Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote: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.


Very true but there are diminishing returns. The same benefits that you attribute to WASP are available at next 10 top SLACs as well. All of these schools have much higher levels of endowment/student than Tufts.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 10:43     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote: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.


Actually zero difference in teaching and student caliber with anyone period. This highlights the absurdity of trying to granularly rank schools.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 10:40     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote:For mechanical engineering, I'd think a school such as, say, Lafayette would be stronger.


What makes you think that Lafayette is stronger? Not a knock on Lafayette, it’s a great school.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 10:31     Subject: Re:Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote: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?


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
Post 12/18/2025 10:29     Subject: Re:Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote: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?

Yes. Huge advantage applying there ED. Like Chicago in that way.
Anonymous
Post 12/18/2025 10:27     Subject: Re:Is Tufts underrated?
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
Post 12/18/2025 10:23     Subject: Is Tufts underrated?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Overrated. Ok school but nothing like its boosters think in terms of general reputation.

A good filter on DCUM is that you can immediately dismiss the opinion of any poster who uses the b word.

Good point.