<p>I can speak for Dan in particular, and I heartily say: yes! </p>
<p>While JP Licks is delicious, and a quick walk from campus, my undisputed-will-eat-it-in-the-winter favorite is Toscanini’s in Central Square. Holy god, that’s good sweetened churned frozen milk fat.</p>
<p>Dan, I stumbled onto this thread, and while it might be slightly off topic (but not more so than the ice cream tangent), your answers to the questions made me think that perhaps Tufts would be an interesting place for my son to look into and perhaps apply to. </p>
<p>I am slightly embarrassed about this, but my word association with Tufts would have been either “hockey” or “Syndrome” previously; shame on me for being so cavalier with my impressions of the school. I’m glad that I clicked into this thread, and we’ll see what my son thinks. According to Naviance, there is not a disconnect.</p>
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<p>“quick walk from campus”?</p>
<p>But I have nothing to do today, and now I’m tempted…</p>
<p>Proud to help, Bob. Or not Bob? What’s the proper mode of address for your name?</p>
<p>If you, or your son, find yourself with questions about Tufts, you know which thread to look for.</p>
<p>That’s great to know because in Chicago I get weird looks when I walk around with a ice cream cone in my hand during the winter. I only hope I chose to do ED 1 in a place that understands my ice cream obsession so thanks! Okay down to more serious questions… If Tufts could be any ice cream flavor which would it be?</p>
<p>Dan, my older son is a freshman at Tufts now. He loves the school, campus, location, all the courses he is taking, the flexibility of the programs and the class size. His creative writing class has only 12 students! We all think we made a wise decision to choose Tufts. </p>
<p>I have a younger son. In order to well prepare him for the college, I want to ask a question which is always in my mind but no one can answer it. </p>
<p>What is more important to you, GPA or standard SAT1, SAT2 tests? </p>
<p>My son’s HS is a very competitive one which could sent 75 out of 320 students to Berkley (by the end, only 25 went, others went to other schools), 80 to UCLA (by the end, only 13 went). So to get all As or very high GPA is not easy. But a student whose GPA is in top 20-30% can have 2150+ STA1 score. Our HS has 36 National Merit Finalists. In our neighbor school (still a good HS), a 3.9 GPA student could only get 2000+ SAT1 even he also had many APs. To me, SATs are standard tests, they are more important than GPAs since GPA highly varies between the quality of the HS and the student body. A 3.5 GPA student in good HS could get 3.9 GPA in not competitive HS easily. So I think SAT1, SAT2 can differentiate the students and HSs.</p>
<p>I looked at Tufts profile, it seems Tufts emphasize more on GPA than SAT. Actually UC does this as well. Why is that?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I am not Dan, but looking at the stats of your HS, holy moly!!! From what I know, I can almost guarantee that the Tufts rep for your high school will know of its’ caliber, and that your younger son’s GPA will be viewed in light of HIS school, and not other schools. </p>
<p>But I would disagree about standard tests being more important as they too can vary widely based on exposure. I remember waiting in the admissions lobby at Tufts while my kids went on the tour … and having a random conversation with a Tufts admissions rep. It totally sold me on Tufts – because he recognized that children like mine, who have two parents both with postgraduate degrees, SHOULD have higher SAT scores. We began reading to them while in-utero, they had access to any books they wanted, they had access to the best in education and tutors if they needed it (or if we believed in them, which we didn’t). But my daughter goes to a high school with more than 50% students of color, most of whom are on scholarship. Her best friend’s parents speak very little English and work 2-3 jobs each. They have fought hard for their daughters’ education in America (one older sister is at a top law school and the other sister is at a highly selective college). Their SAT scores were hundreds of points lower than my D’s… and yet they are VERY successful in college. They may not have the immense vocabulary that my D has (and which is tested on in the SAT). But they work their butts off and will make a difference in the world. I am hopeful that Tufts recognizes this and looks at all students individually – within the curriculum of their own schools and within the background of their own families. This will benefit all of us, as our children’s college experience will be more of a microcosm of the real world rather than our immediate neighborhood. </p>
<p>So yes, I believe that a high SAT score will undoubtedly be predictive of future college success, but I also believe that a low SAT score is not necessarily predictive of college failure. I applaud colleges who are willing and able to look at students in terms of an entire package, and not just SAT scores.</p>
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As it happened, right before I signed up for CC, I had been thinking about the phrase: “… and Bob’s your uncle.” So, that’s how IxnayBob came to be.</p>
<p>My son said that he will research Tufts. I’m not sure why it didn’t show up on his radar before.</p>
<p>Momof2back2back, I fully understand what you are saying. I also support that colleges look at the whole package of the students. That’s why all colleges have the policy about first generation college student, they ask the parent’s education, student’s ethics etc. </p>
<p>I think I am not clear on my question. If the background of the student is about the same, then which is more important, GPA or SATs?</p>
<p>I have some examples ( too many similar cases happened in our area). All the kid’s family background are the same, they are in different HSs. My older son’s classmate, she got full ride for Northeastern, was rejected by Tufts and UC Davis, now she is at CMU. She had 3.75 GPA(UW), 4.2 GPA(W), 2230 SAT1, 750+ for other SAT2. My colleague’s son who was in another HS had 3.89 GPA, 2030 SAT (taken 3 times, everytime was about the same), 700-750 on SAT2. He got in UC Davis. He did not apply those privates.</p>
<p>Another colleague’s son is a Junior at a very competitive HS now. He got 6 Bs so far, 2320 SAT1. 750+ SAT2. His friend who is in his neighbor HS (He actually moved from that HS to the very competitive one at the beginning of 9th grade) has all As, 2300 SAT1. So just from their stats and our experience, his friend could get a guarantee spot in Berkley, but most likely he is not. My colleague now said: why we moved? Actually this is always in many parent’s mind: should we pick the most competitive school to let the GPA suffer? Those kids could get high GPAs and SATs in other schools. </p>
<p>I read Tufts Admission Blog earlier this year. 6 (I forgot the exact number) officers formed a group. Each read their region’s applicant’s info and essays, then all officers vote. If 5 out of 6 (again, I might be wrong on the exact number) said YES, then this kid is IN. Since other officers do not know the region and each HS well, so it all depends on how and how much the regional officer explained. I don’t know how other schools do admission decision. This blog is the first time to let me know how it works at least in Tufts. By the way, I love their blogs. I like to read student’s blog as well.</p>
<p>fromCA – Good question, when kids are somewhat equal, what weighs more - GPA or test scores? I am guessing there is probably no universal answer. It might come down to more qualitative points – one kid might come across really boring in the application process while another shines in some way??</p>
<p>But I do think that most colleges recognize the inherent difficulty in schools like yours. Your high school’s name is probably as well known as the name of many highly selective colleges. But maybe large universities like the UC system would not?? – where it is more “data driven/computerized” (e.g., no actual admissions officers reading applications). It’s an interesting question – definitely a time when I like colleges that still look at the entire “package” of a student.</p>
<p>Hi Dan, </p>
<p>I don’t mind you posting my question in a blog, but I would appreciate it if you kept my username and information anonymous. On another note, I am grateful for your insight. If you don’t mind I would like to ask some other questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How important are sibling legacies? In other words, how much can they affect your chances?</p></li>
<li><p>Does Tufts and peer institutions compare students to other students in their grade?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My father (my son’s grandfather) graduated from Tufts. The smart genes skipped a generation and my son has the smarts of his grandfather. I know that sometimes applicants have a leg up if one of their parents is an alum. Any advantage to a grandparent being an alum?</p>
<p>Further to cluelessbass’s question, does a step-grandparent (or whatever a parent’s step-parent is called) matter? Obviously there’s no genetic “hook,” but it could be considered to have mattered as regards family culture, values, etc.</p>
<p>Dan, any rough stats yet on how many class of 2018 ED I apps were received and also will the decision letters come out all at once or will some be issued on a rolling basis as they are made? Thanks.</p>
<p>Does it help your chances if you apply with an intended major for something other than sciences, engineering, business?</p>
<p>Why Tufts has such a low word limit! Which is better, listing a lot of things that attract you, or talking about one in more depth?</p>
<p>Often, the biggest benefit conferred by a legacy connection (in it’s many, many, many forms) comes in ways other than what I think you’re asking. </p>
<p>An important part of what we look for in an application is some sort of connection/understanding/kinship with the spirit and culture of our school. If you’ve got a relative (sibling, grandparent, step-grandparent) who is well connected with Tufts, access to that relationship can, and often does, give you as an applicant a deeper understanding of Tufts and that understanding has many ways of translating into an application. Some of those translation points, in my experience, are deliberate, but most of them are not. Better understanding usually results in a better application; a better application usually results in a more favorable decision. </p>
<p>I would say for <em>most</em> of our legacy applicants, that’s the benefit I most acutely notice.</p>
<p>@Proudfather: We don’t have a business program, so that’s off the table totally for everyone. But, basically, the answer to your question is “No.”</p>
<p>@Milkweed: Honestly, there are two reasons to keep the word count low. The first is about you, the applicant, and the overwhelming sense that students have that they need to fill the space we provide. If we said 300 words, everyone would write 300. If we said 400, everyone would write 400. You don’t really need that much space to say something of value, so we’d rather direct your towards that. The second reason is that we can move more quickly through our very large applicant pool if we keep you to a manageable length. You’d be amazed how much difference in time 100 extra words makes when you’re talking about 18,000 applicants.</p>
<p>Honestly, I’ve seen both work really really well. Maybe I’ll write an answer to the questions myself. One where I go deep and the other where I go more broad. What do you think?</p>
<p>@Dan said, "If you’ve got a relative (sibling, grandparent, step-grandparent) who is well connected with Tufts, access to that relationship can, and often does, give you as an applicant a deeper understanding of Tufts and that understanding has many ways of translating into an application. " </p>
<p>Would you say if you have discussed with your legacy (mom for example) what she liked about the university, sharing that as part of an essay would be a good thing? Or would that be viewed as beating the reader over the head with the legacy?</p>
<p>Regarding essay length, Blaise Pascal wrote, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.” So maybe the fewer words is to force applicants to write stronger essays.</p>
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<p>This sounds like a parent’s question. :)</p>
<p>If you’re talking about it because you think it’ll somehow help you to bring it up, that’s foolish. If you’ve you got a genuine emotional/intellectual connection to the stories your parent shares, then let that connection shine. </p>
<p>But… I doubt that most of our legacy applicants are filled with a desire to go to Tufts <em>because</em> their parents went to Tufts. My guess is that parents served as an introductory point, and then the student found things on to like on their own, new things perhaps, separate from the experience that mom or dad had. While a legacy connection can make it easier to sniff out that knowledge, that journey can be more compelling to hear about.</p>