Chance me- Tufts ED and list of EA/RD

Chance Me / Match Me!
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US Citizen: Middlesex County, MA, (one of top public schools in state, very tough curriculum)
White, Russian-Ukrainian Background, Jewish
Brown legacy, Mom currently professor at Tufts
Intended major: International Relations, (Somewhere applying Technology and Society if offered)

GPA: 3.13/4 W, 3.44/5 W
Context: (low grades during Freshman, Sophomore year-> especially in World Language/Math, upward trend in Junior and Senior Year)
5 Tufts for-credit Summer Courses (World Language, International Relations)->3.78UW
ACT: 33
5 AP Classes, 5s on twi exams (only 12 offered by school) currently taking 3 AP Classes

Awards
Gold Community Service Award
NSDA Debate Degree of Distinction

Extracurriculars
Founder/Organizer of Prison Reform Club at School/worked W Tufts Prison Reform Prof.
Research w Tufts physics professor on Particle Physics
Research w Tufts International Relations Grad Student
Ukraine Aid Fundraiser: raised $1500
Varsity Tennis: Played 3 singles/2 doubles, won D1 State Title Junior year
Pianist/Piano Instructor: director of Recruitment at Notelove Boston
Debate/Speech: podium spots at local/state tournaments
Academic Decathlon: competed at Regionals/Nationals
Community Service: 300+ Hours
Jr. Counselor at Summer Camp Junior Summer

Essays/LORs/Other
Optional LOR from Tufts Chinese Professor (took classes w him at Tufts)
2 other LOR’s from Tufts Prison Reform and professor and IR Organizer (admissions office allowed me to have them send by email instead of Common App)
Good Teacher/Counselor LOR’s (Counselors talks abt growth, History/English Teachers, both highlight good qualities)

Cost Constraits
Parents can probably pay for college but won’t be comfortable, would prefer to pay as little as possible

Schools
ED: Tufts
EA: Fordham
RD: American, BU, Brandeis, Brown, Cornell, HWS, Ithaca College, NYU, Northeastern, Uconn, Umass Amherst, Upitt, UVM, Syracuse

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I think you’re in

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cap

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Tufts cares heavily about demonstrated interest and fit with the school. Though your GPA is lacking, you have a strong set of ECs and really good ties with the school in the form of research w/Tufts prof, LORs, classes, and not to mention your mom is a prof. there!

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You have a very strong hook with your mom being a professor and getting LOR from 3 different Tufts professors.

In terms of costs, I thought that faculty children could attend for free–I would find out.

At a minimum they will defer you. If so, I would get an ED2 application ready. Of the schools you listed, American would be the ED2 with the highest acceptance rate, likelihood of acceptance and great for your major.

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So the question is - does Tufts preference children of professors?

Otherwise I don’t see how you can get in - unless you are high ranked in your school - but it sounds like not.

97% of kids are in the top quarter of the class with 82% in the top 10%.

Unless I’m missing something and maybe I am, they don’t take “additional” LORs.

Frankly, I would think you are wasting your ED application.

Similarly, I don’t see how you’d get into Brown, Cornell, NYU, Northeastern, - and you’d be dicey at Brandeis and American, etc. - and not a shoe in at the others short of Ithaca and Hobart.

If the child of prof helps, then great - but otherwise I’d move my ED to American or Syracuse, etc.

Why did you miss early action at the schools that offered it?

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Ig just to clarify some stuff:

  1. I didn’t apply to a lot of schools ED cuz I wanted colleges to see my senior year grades (they are quite good compared to the rest of my transcript
  2. I did get a confirmation from an admissions officer that my additional LOR’s will be accepted and reviewed, however your correct in the fact I don’t know how much they’ll be considered
  3. I know the 97% metric and I’m very scared of it, however I don’t know if this is accounting for all students or only those with ranking at their HS. Additionally, I assume this might change a bit considering covid did negatively impact a lot of kids stats, but I may be wrong
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  1. You mean EA, not ED - you can only do one ED. The flipside to that is many publics (not sure about yours) - fill their class through EA and not RD.

  2. With grade inflation, many kids have 3.9 UW and 4.5 W (with .5 for Honors and 1 for AP). If a 3.3 puts you in the top 10%, then your odds go up. If you’re 40 or 60%, little chance.

I think little chance. But perhaps they do a solid for employee’s kids.

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