<p>I was recently at Tufts and was told (by a current student) that non-drinkers/partiers cannot "survive" on a campus like Tufts and are ostracized from the rest of the student body. I'm not sure if this is completely untrue because I've heard that Tufts is a heavy party school. Any comments/reaction to this?</p>
<p>From everything I've read and the people I've spoken to, I think you can DEFINITELY survive at Tufts if you are not a non-drinker. Just like every other college, it has parties, but i wouldn't categorize it as a "party school." I am pretty sure you can find people who don't drink and have a good time.. go to boston (from what my interviewer said, is only about 10-15 minutes away), go to live shows (my favorite band went to tufts), etc..</p>
<p>a better question, in my mind, would be "can a partier survive at tufts?" its not a big party school really. theres much more to do not partywise than partywise</p>
<p>I think both can survive at Tufts. I got through freshman and sophomore year without partying much at all, and then the past two years, I've partied more and been fine. Tufts isn't really a school where there's a party every night, but you can definitely find frat parties and house parties on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. When you get to know upperclassmen who have off-campus apartments, the social scene grows a bit more. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>This student also told me that since President Bacow has been cracking down on the frats, the amount of drinking in the dorms has gone up tremendously...is this true?</p>
<p>umm, I guess it has increased. It's really not a problem though, drink if you want, dont if you dont. Its no state school party wise</p>
<p>I don't feel by any means that you will be ostracized. There are always a ton of things to do on campus and off. Check out tuftslife.com to see that we list everything that happens on campus every day. Between concerts, shows, performances, movies, and other events you will have no problem finding things to do. Furthermore, I didn't drink for my first two years here and still have friends who don't. I have never encountered people who have "punished" (for lack of a better word) me for choosing not to drink. You will be able to have a good time sober and even find friends who wish to do the same, all the while not living like you are in soletary confinement. </p>
<p>Also, I would totally not say that Tufts is a big party school. You can find it if you want it, but it is certainly no state or big 10 type of scene.</p>
<p>My sister will be a senior next year at Tufts and she complained of the lack of parties at Tufts. She isn't a wallflower either.. So I wouldn't worry and truly enjoy your years there, she LOVED it!</p>
<p>Matt17, tell you what, I'll hang out with you if you get ostracized and we can non-party together. =)</p>
<p>haha...I'm not really too concerned about getting ostracized. The kid I spoke to at Tufts seemed pretty miserable though (I'm assuming he's been ostracized). I def want to know about the social scene there since it's a school I'm strongly considering.</p>
<p>My biggest advice at any school if you want to find different social scenes with or without drinking is to get out there and join some clubs. Getting involved gives you options and allows you to meet more people besides just those who happen to live in your hall. Meeting upperclassmen this way was so important for me when I was a freshman. I know it sounds corny, but its so true.</p>
<p>what are the most appealing clubs/activities at Tufts??</p>
<p>=)</p>
<p>p.s. from everything i've heard about Tufts, I couldn't imagine anyone ever being MISERABLE! =(</p>
<p>I'll join that party jench and matt!</p>
<p>Well it all depends on what you are interested in. If you list, I can point you in a direction. We have a TON of groups (it takes two days to do our activities fair).</p>
<p>I have a dilemma. I continued taking piano lessons a couple of years ago and love it! And there is no doubt in my mind that I would not continue taking piano lessons. What are my options at Tufts? Or will I have to search for a private teacher just around the area?</p>
<p>Also! I am interested in visual arts (I pastel paint a lot), intermural sports, music .. hmm. this is difficult.</p>
<p>What would you say are some of the most prominent activities on campus? The most popular clubs?</p>
<p>first of all, HAHAHAHAHHA Matt17! Aw that is so cute. No, you will not be ostracized as long as you're a friendly person. I barely ever drink (...i weigh like 97 pounds, lol) and neither does my boyfriend, but we never lack for things to do. I agree with whoever said that joining clubs is a good idea; i made a TON of friends from joining University Chorale and Chamber Singers. It's actually really, REALLY easy to meet people just generally if you're sociable. But it's a lot easier to make a facebook friend than to make a REAL friend, hahaha.</p>
<p>Jench, you can def. continue piano lessons here. They're like 580 per semester, BUT if you declare a music major or minor, the music department will cover 90% of the cost, and the requirements for a music minor are very light. I have friends who did intramural soccer and dodgeball, some who are captaining these, and they loved them and are doing them again next year. It is SO easy to get involved in anything, I'm not even kidding.</p>
<p>I don't think any club is really like "most popular". If you go by sheer numbers, I think TDC (Tufts Dance Collective) is one of the biggest...but it's more about doing what you love, and in those activities you'll meet people with whom you have a lot in common. Also, it's a really good idea to meet the people (...or at least the freshmen...but I'm going to be a super-friendly sophomore to anyone on 3rd floor South Hall next year, lol) on your hall. I LOVE having my best friends living in my dorm - i feel so bad for the people who made friends during pre-orientations like Wilderness, IO or FIT, and then realized that they live uphill in Wren and all their friends live downhill in Tilton. In fact, I'm glad I didn't do a pre-or for this reason. AND I regret talking to people online in Tufts 2009's myspace group - it was REALLY AWKWARD seeing someone and realizing you could list all their interests. And meeting someone you talked to online for hours but don't mesh with in person is painful. lol. DON'T GET SUCKED INTO MYSPACE! Just wait for facebook, it's worth it haha.</p>
<p>OFF TOPIC! Anyway. You will have a lovely social life sans the frats. In my dorm, I will every once in a while walk by a dorm door and hear people inside who are probably drinking, but why does that matter? they're being discreet so as not to get the RA involved. I'm not sure why this was a bad thing according to one of you.</p>
<p>I was thinking about doing the pre-or wilderness trip (you know, should I be accepted that is), i didn't really understand what you meant when you said you were glad you didn't do one. Could you clarify? Thanks! =)</p>
<p>Ok, I am going to counter what blurinka said about preorientation. Just because you do them doesnt mean that you can only be friends with those people. Why shoudl you limit yourself to just people in your dorm? You can do both for goodness sake. Preorientation allows you to meet people who are also freshman in smaller groups and you know people before anyone else. Who cares where they llive? The campus is not that big that you can't walk the 3 minutes if you need to. Preorientation is something I did/worked on all four years here and I think its amazing. If you choose not to do it because of just where people live, I don't believe thats an informed decision. You should make it based on something else.</p>
<p>That's good to hear dreamala. Which pre-or programs did you work on? I'm definitely thinking I want to do the wilderness one.</p>
<p>I worked on FIT.
For some information you can check out
<a href="http://www.tufts.edu/programs/tuftswilderness/%5B/url%5D">http://www.tufts.edu/programs/tuftswilderness/</a> for wilderness
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/physed/fit/main.asp%5B/url%5D">http://ase.tufts.edu/physed/fit/main.asp</a> for fit
<a href="http://preview.admissions.tufts.edu/focus.html%5B/url%5D">http://preview.admissions.tufts.edu/focus.html</a> for Focus
<a href="http://admissions.tufts.edu/international.htm%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.tufts.edu/international.htm</a> for International Orientation (IO)</p>