I was accepted into Carnegie Mellon college of Science for physics/astrophysics and into Tufts’ Arts and Sciences for astrophysics as well. I feel that I like Carnegie Mellon’s STEM focus and faculty better, but I’m unfamiliar with Pittsburgh. On the other hand, I’m more familiar with Tufts and the Boston area, and they gave me a research stipend and a scholarship that allows me to graduate debt-free. However, I don’t think their astrophysics/physics department is as strong. Which one should I choose?
I can’t speak to the finances of it all- graduating debt free is huge but compared to what debt for CMU?
but as far as the cities go, Pittsburgh is not Boston but it is still a great place with a lot to do in terms of music, food, bike paths, parks…I would not let the location scare you away for sure.
@joecollege44
I still haven’t gotten my financial aid package from cmu, but if it’s at all similar to Tufts’ financial aid, I’m guessing it would be 4,000 to 6,000 of loans per year.
And the thought of pittsburgh doesn’t really scare me, just the fact that it’s twice as far from as Boston is.
(I’m a CMU student) As far as I know, CMU is a bit closer to the city of Pittsburgh (and is arguably inside of it,) than Tufts is close to Boston (Tufts is located in Medford). However, as someone who applied to several Boston area schools I would say that I love Boston and the distance shouldn’t hamper you from getting to explore and enjoy such a wonderful city. Pittsburgh is cool but you can get very busy at CMU, and some people never break free from the area that CMU and Pitt are located in (Oakland). My roommate is a physics major and he spent a lot of time in study groups and on problem sets.
About the academic differences, I can say that CMU is an amazing place filled with very smart students, great faculty and numerous resources, but by all indications Tufts seems to share a lot of academic qualities with CMU even if there is less of a stem focus. I would say prefer Tufts academically if you are looking to go to graduate school honestly, but if you aren’t, then prefer CMU as you can take classes in a lot of things here that can get you a great job with just your bachelor’s degree, like statistics or computer science. In addition to that point, if you are interested in either of those things then CMU is really the place to be but if its just physics then that program is good but not super-duper top tier.
Finally, if you have to pick between two schools you love, you will never regret picking the school that is closer to home and cheaper (that’s what I did when I picked CMU over Northwestern!).
I rambled here, feel free to ask me to clarify or expand on anything or ask any other question.
Hello! I was also accepted to CMU and Tufts and I will try to condense why Tufts in as short as possible.
1: CMU is great at launching you towards your career thanks to their prestige and connections in the STEM field. CMU loves to boast the small things like the number of students who gain internships/research over the summer by grade, which almost no other school did. However, I wanted to do Grad School, and Tufts had so many grants that covered Grad school application, and test fees.
2: Tufts is located closer to many major cities, such as New York City, DC, Boston, Philadelphia (the same distance as CMU to Philidephia, despite being in the same state!), etc. This is great for networking and opportunities.
3: I did a fly into CMU and the #1 thing I remember was how I approached random students and they told me that they got no sleep due to the amount of work, but they already accepted that! However, Tufts is FAMOUS for its students. My friend who could not afford to enroll in Tufts told me a story about an interaction with a student. Instantly he felt a connection he had with no other person ever. He respected the student and still thinks about that interaction to this day. Tufts students are known for their passion and quirkiness.
4: I am low income and first-gen, and they practically throw money at me to succeed through generous grants/funds and centers designated for students like me, which CMU had nothing similar to. It showed how much Tufts were committed to their word.
And more but those were the major ones.