<p>What are the differences and the pros and cons of each college?</p>
<p>Here you go:</p>
<p>[Brandeis</a> University](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/BrandeisUniversity.aspx]Brandeis”>Brandeis University - The Princeton Review College Rankings & Reviews)</p>
<p>[Boston</a> College](<a href=“Boston College - The Princeton Review College Rankings & Reviews”>Boston College - The Princeton Review College Rankings & Reviews)</p>
<p>[Tufts</a> University](<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/TuftsUniversity.aspx]Tufts”>Tufts University - The Princeton Review College Rankings & Reviews)</p>
<p>Brandeis</p>
<p>Pros-Smallest of the three schools.</p>
<p>Cons-Waltham is kind of bummy.</p>
<p>Boston College</p>
<p>Pros-DI sports</p>
<p>National name recognition</p>
<p>Cons-Homogenous student body.</p>
<p>Tufts
Pros-Most academically renowned</p>
<p>Cons-Quirky students</p>
<p>Alistar, your facts are right, but your placement of them into pros/cons is entirely subjective. For me, D1 sports and a small student body are cons and quirky students are a plus. </p>
<p>Here are some distinguishing factors of each:</p>
<p>Brandeis: Small, pretty religious (Judaism), good academics, good financial aid, not a huge party school, small class sizes, Waltham is kind of bummy like alistar said, Brandeis is kind of forgotten about in the Boston area to be honest (but it shouldn’t be, it’s a great school)</p>
<p>BC: large student body, also a little bit religious (Jesuit/Catholicism), homogeneous, big sports scene, heavy drinking culture, good academics, so-so financial aid, absolutely gorgeous campus, takes forever to get into the city (its subway line has ~20 stops before downtown Boston), good for finance/econ, Newton (the town) is craaazy nice and rich</p>
<p>Tufts: medium student body, most liberal of the three, “quirky” students, very global-outreach focused, good for IR and science, small endowment, close to Harvard/MIT and downtown Boston, <em>arguably</em> the best academically, good financial aid, not a very good party scene, very accessible professors, Medford/Somerville are meh but Davis Square is pretty cool</p>
<p>I disagree slightly with above. First, I don’t consider Brandeis to be “pretty religious.”. Yes, you will find some religious students but they are a decided minority. Brandeis, while founded by Jews, is strictly nonsectarian and although about half of the undergrads are Jewish, most of those are secular Jews who are culturally Jewish but not necessarily religious. Frankly, you will find pretty much the same situation at Tufts although the percentage os Jewish students is slightly less. The extent of religiosity at Brandeis is similar to what you find at BC, which is 60% Catholic.</p>
<p>I also don’t think that Tufts is the most liberal of the three,although all three are pretty liberal places. Brandeis is known in some circles as the Berkeley of the East.</p>
<p>Academically, the three schools are pretty even.</p>
<p>Rare to see anyone considering both Brandeis and BC. One’s heavily Jewish, one heavily Catholic. I would think most kids comfortable with one would not like the other.</p>
<p>Same situation as OP for me (well, still waiting to hear from Tufts, but I’m hoping!)</p>
<p>Chardo-- I think it is less rare than you think–except for deeply religious students. Perhaps the most popular Chaplainn on the Brandeis campus is the Catholic Chaplain, and there is a Catholic Chapel on campus. I know Catholic students at Brandeis who prefer the academic and cultural environment there over BC. Conversely, I know Jewish students who chose BC because of Div I sports and school spirit.</p>
<p>"BC: large student body, "</p>
<p>BC has around 9000 undergrads, and has none of the flaws of a huge university. When I was there I felt like I was at an LAC…grad students were invisible except for the occasional one teaching a low-level class. Law students are on a whole 'nother campus. Small classes were the norm, not the exception. I had one English class in which everybody dropped the course except me, and the class went on as usual, with me as the only student. 100% of professors I had were accessible and helpful. I never even heard of a professor being uncooperative or ignoring a student.</p>
<p>I personally would pick Tufts… but that’s just me! I visited both Brandeis and Tufts (didn’t even apply to BC) and I got a much better feeling at Tufts. Everyone seemed happy and was extremely helpful. I don’t even remember seeing any Brandeis students other than my tour guide. Both visits were in the spring.</p>
<p>[Rankings</a> | Fast Facts | About | Brandeis University](<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/about/facts/rankings.html]Rankings”>Rankings | Fast Facts | About | Brandeis University)</p>
<p>Actually, Brandeis ranks 18th in most religious students</p>
<p>Schmaltz, saying that BC has a large student body does not imply “faults.” that’s a fact that I was stating; most people would consider 9,000 large that’s all.</p>
<p>"most people would consider 9,000 large that’s all. "</p>
<p>I think most would call it “medium-sized.”</p>
<p>Brandeis is the smallest and most serious intellectual and artistic (theater, music etc.) environment of the three, with the most personal attention by high-powered professors. BC is a Catholic, religious institution with 70% catholic student body and is known for its Div I sports. Brandeis may have some religious students but there are four chaplains–Catholic, Protestant, Muslim as well as Jewish. It was founded and significantly funded by the Jewish community but, unlike BC, it is completely secular and quite diverse–50-60% of students are not Jewish and there’s a signficant minority and international population (106 countries). Recently chosen by Princeton Review as one of its Best Value colleges: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brandeis-university/1091950-brandeis-named-one-princeton-reviews-best-value-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brandeis-university/1091950-brandeis-named-one-princeton-reviews-best-value-colleges.html</a> Tufts and BC are twice as large as Brandeis, more “preppy” and have Greek life.</p>
<p>Really? The most intellectual and artistic of the three? That’s kind of subjective.</p>
<p>Tufts has a lottt of a cappella groups. Their best/most famous one, the Beelzebubs, actually do the voices for the “Warblers” in the show Glee (they sing on the new CD that’s out and in the show, of course) and they got 2nd in the NBC show, the Sing Off. They also have performed at the White House and done a bunch of other stuff.</p>
<p>Tufts undergraduate population is about 5K, Brandeis is about 3K. That’s not “double.”</p>
<p>And BC and Tufts are both value colleges as well.</p>
<p>BUT, I will say that by no means is Brandeis is a bad school. Brandeis is an excellent school! And one of the dorms is actually a castle! All of the three choices are great. I think you should go visit them and figure out which one you like best.</p>
<p>Everyone here will be predisposed to some bias or influenced by something that has bias. Best bet is to go visit the three and figure out which one you like best. Congrats!</p>