Before I begin, I know that Tufts is a reach for me. My family thinks I should give it a shot and apply ED but I think it’s too much of a reach. I want to know if it’s even worth my time applying to Tufts.
Background: White Male, Middle/Upper Class, I go to a very rigorous top 5 public school in Massachusetts which is very difficult ( I think it’s ranked 4 or 5 right now on different lists). No rank at my school.
Stats: 3.33 UW GPA (Upward Trend) 3.85 W GPA. SAT: 1240 (Yes it’s low but I am taking it one more time and i’ve been improving my score on practice tests. I take a mix of honors and regular classes mostly because regular classes are actually pretty hard at my school and I am involved in multiple after school activities. So i’ve taken courses like Honors Global, Honors Bio, Honors English, APUSH, but also like regular french4 and math. My senior year schedule is Honors Film Studies, Honors Marine Biology, AP Psych, Ap Gov, regular french5 and calculus. I am also part of my school’s global studies program which is basically when english and history and sometimes bio are taught together. The global course focuses on looking at english, history, and bio through a global viewpoint and connecting them together. For example, in English class we will read excerpts from Thoreau and in history we will learn about Thoreau and what life was life during his time. And then in bio we will learn about how he lived in nature and then at the end of the term we will take a trip to Walden pond where Thoreau lived and stuff. Many colleges are known to love our global program so thats good. Another reason why Tufts is up in the air with me even though I know i’m below average for Tufts is because Tufts loves our school and accepts around 14-16 kids from our school a year including a kid I know this year who got in with similar stats/EC of me and had around 4.1 GPA.
EC: 2020 Class President for 1 year (I did a good job but this popular kid rapped his speech and everyone loved it I guess). I play baseball and am on the varsity golf team. I have won the award of excellence (leadership, integrity, ethics) for baseball and the award of excellence for golf too. I have also won a sportsmanship award for a basketball team I am on. Every year my family runs the Cancer Awareness Day at Fenway Park so for 7 years I have been co -running the program. I lead Dana Farber patients on tours and supervises them in the Red Sox Dugout. I also present the Cancer Awareness Day award on the field to a member of the Red Sox management who has been a great help and has shown outstanding commitment and courage to the fight against Cancer. I also work at the local golf course and am a member of a golf league. I am also the secretary of the investment club and am a member of the Aspirations in Medicine Club. I am also the head coach of 2 basketball teams a 4th grade basketball team and a 6th grade basketball team.
Other info: I have a good rec from my honors global teacher who I have a great connection with. I also have a good amount of safety and match schools so I guess I’m just wondering if it’s worth using my ED on tufts. I am also thinking about ED to Brandeis but Ihaven’t made a decision yet and I don’t think I need to yet for a few more months. So, I guess I just want to know if it’s worth applying ED to Tufts or maybe if I fall in love with other schools to maybe try and ED to a lower reach/match?
Sorry this was long but thank you for reading!
Correction: I just checked and i actually have a 3.95 W GPA.
I have also shown a ton of demonstrated interest which I know Tufts cares a lot about. I went on a tour and info session and have emailed my admissions counselor a few times.
Tufts tends to care a lot about stats, and yours are going to make it hard for you to get a serious look. If, otoh, the love for your school stems from some institutional priority (they want to admit more students from the LPS in Medford to build better town gown relationships), your GC could probably give you a better assessment than we can.
You have a lot going for you, but I would put you on the wrong side of 50/50 odds for ED at Tufts. If there’s some other school you love more, you might be able to make better use of your ED there.
@fenway1 I have to wonder: What are your match and safety schools? What is your budget? Have you thought about where you want to be in ten years?
I see your threads for Colby, Tufts, and NYU. However, I do not see threads where you discuss schools where you are actually likely to be attending next year (assuming that you are a senior in high school). Your stats will get you into some very good universities. Your stats will get you into universities that can help you to get yourself wherever you want to be in ten years.
What is it about Colby, Tufts, and NYU that attracts you? I see these as good schools that are likely to be expensive (which will matter to some students and not to others). However, they are also quite different in some ways, such as size and location.
On paper NYU is slightly easier to get into than Colby or Tufts. However, I don’t know whether the difference is great enough that I would spend my ED on a school that was not clearly my first choice.
Of course it is entirely likely that you already know what your safety schools are. I just do not see it from your three recent threads.