<p>hahaha snuffles it took me a whole semester to figure that out too! I always walked along the paths (which are diagonal) and then one day as I was walking with my friends I just stopped, paused, and shouted (as if the information was new to them)- "all of the trees are lined up perfectly!" It was a funny moment to say the least...</p>
<p>Movinmom- great questions:
1. Tufts gets bombarded with applicants, and the one thing that I think makes Tufts unique is that it truly emphasizes students who are interested in the school, and have shown their interest genuinely. In other words, while applying early decision will help a great deal, have your daughter visit campus a couple of times (I think the admissions office notes these visits), meet up with professors in an academic area that she is interested in, coaches (if sports apply), theater directors...basically whatever she may be interested in. From my experience, when I introduced myself to members of the Tufts community, I ended up having long conversations with them about what I wanted out of my college experience, they helped answer questions, and I am pretty sure that they are able to keep in touch with admissions if they feel like you would be a good fit at Tufts (which is likely considering not many prospective students always take the initiative to do this).</p>
<p>Also- take the essays VERY seriously, especially the "why Tufts" essay. Do your research, throw in specific examples of Tufts groups that interest you, or programs that make Tufts unique. The "optional" essay is there to see if you are really committed to the school, so I would definitely not make it so optional and pursue that as well. Other than stats, Tufts is looking for students who are true leaders in their school/community, have a global perspective, and make community service a priority. This does not necessarily mean that they want someone who is in 10 clubs...because sometimes it is better to see a students pursue a couple of clubs reflect their true interests than join a bunch senior year to boost their resume (colleges can see through this pretty easily). While all of these things are not essential to admission, they certainly help. Just be sure that your daughter has fun with the application (it IS possible to make it fun) and feels that she has been able to express her true personality through the essays. I must have gone through over 50 drafts of my essays, but in the end I felt like it was my best work which makes a difference. </p>
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<li><p>Statistically, I think that admission from ED1 and ED2 are pretty similar. If your daughter is sure that Tufts is her first choice, then I would definitely apply ED1, since she might as well hear back earlier. However, if she feels that her grades by the ED1 deadline are not the strongest, many students will wait until ED2 to allow their grades up to mid year to be evaluated as well. </p></li>
<li><p>I think that it is hard to determine safeties in general...but for me, I suppose that my "safeties" were: Muhlenberg, Union, Dickinson, U Vermont, Hobart and William Smith, and American...though, my case is pretty unique since Tufts was the largest school I was looking at, and I primarily looked at smaller liberal arts schools. I would say that some other matches on the safer side would be: Colgate, Connecticut College, Colby, U Rochester, and BC, though all of the schools mentioned are all still great schools and these days it's hard to tell just how safe a college can be. </p></li>
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<p>Good luck!</p>