Anonymous wrote:I went in the 90s and I liked it enough. Strong academics, safe campus, and there’s enough stuff to do. When I went it was an intelligent somewhat nerdy, crunchy granola student body. Lots of Birkenstock’s. Greek system was preppier but they represent a small portion of the student population. Overwhelmingly though the vibe from the place was ivy-reject with a chip on their shoulder and lackluster school spirit. Most students who were there didn’t want to be there and were vocal about it. It’s a good backup to Brown. It’s also good for engineering, pre med pre vet pre dentistry, IR. Other than that, I think the academics of other schools match it and have better student cultures. Outside of academia, no one really knows of tufts, haven’t encountered an alum in any of my corporate travels. I think most grads go on to grad school, med school, etc. I think tufts is good for a certain type of kid. A colleague’s son went for two years on a lacrosse scholarship and then transferred to UVA for the last two years. He says the academics at UVA were like high school compared to tufts, but the culture was way better. In hindsight no real regrets, but I would have had a blast at BC.

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Anonymous wrote:My impression of Tufts from just having a kid go thru the application season (so, seeing which of her friends applied, and who is going there) is that it’s become a school for kids who weren’t going to get into the Ivies, but who wanted New England. Wealthy, preppy, full pay. That’s just the impression based on an N of about 10 of my DD’s peers who applied/decided to go there.

Agree there’s no there there.

My friend was on the faculty there in the 90s and had mostly nice things to say about her students, but did say they were mostly wealthy suburban white kids who couldn’t go elsewhere.

Not to say it’s not perfect for some kid, these are just my observations...

+1 there's good students at Tufts, but my impression is the acceptance rate and test scores don't tell the entire story. Notre Dame, and Emory have higher acceptance rates but I've seen students get rejected Early from those schools just to get into Tufts RD. Tufts practices yeild protection expertly. I personally think BC is the slightly better school, but they are both ranked around where they should be.

it’s become a school for kids who weren’t going to get into the Ivies, but who wanted New England. Wealthy, preppy, full pay. That’s just the impression based on an N of about 10 of my DD’s peers who applied/decided to go there.

Anonymous wrote:My impression of Tufts from just having a kid go thru the application season (so, seeing which of her friends applied, and who is going there) is that it’s become a school for kids who weren’t going to get into the Ivies, but who wanted New England. Wealthy, preppy, full pay. That’s just the impression based on an N of about 10 of my DD’s peers who applied/decided to go there.

Agree there’s no there there.

My friend was on the faculty there in the 90s and had mostly nice things to say about her students, but did say they were mostly wealthy suburban white kids who couldn’t go elsewhere.

Not to say it’s not perfect for some kid, these are just my observations...

It's ranked in the top 30 because it's so selective, and it's so selective because of where it is, a [destination] for NE prep school students.

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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 wrote:Hi, I am the OP. I said I was the most educated, not super educated. I’m the only one who has completed 4 years of college. I don’t have $$$ for an independent counselor.

This all started because my niece, an URM, spoke to a teacher at school who mentioned Tufts and Emory as places to look at. My sister for a variety of reasons prefers her to stay closer to home in MA.

I am doing my best to research online and talk to people. She is a serious student but is also very school-spirited focused.

I will tell her to wait and just speak to her counselor.

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Anonymous wrote:Slightly overrated due to its NE location.

Curious what this means. If you mean people perceive Boston is the best area to go to college in and give a bump to Boston area schools then I don't think that's really overrating the school.

Otherwise, my experience is that the cluster of schools in Mass means that they tend to be underrated vs if they were located someplace else.

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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.

Well if your more educated and perhaps have a buck to spare I’d hire a consultant because you sound horrible and not in a position to advise a young adult.

Bet she knows “your” is really “you’re,” though.

Are you an Oncologist? You sound dead inside, it’s common with Oncologists.

Anonymous wrote:I always liked the name...TUFFFTSSSS. It sounds elite.

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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.