Chances at Tufts University (and a couple others)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am planning to apply to Tufts University early decision. </p>

<p>Academics:
GPA: 4.0
Class Rank: 4/249 (within top 2%)
(The GPA and class rank are "unofficial, but not likely to change" according to my guidance counselor.)</p>

<p>Test scores:
PSAT: I was a national merit somethingorother that I can't really remember, I think I got a 215 on it
SAT I: V:680/M:700/W:800 (2180, not retaking)
SAT II: Biology (690), US History (560) (definitely taking new ones in November, since I was totally dissatisfied with these scores. However, my ED deadline for Tufts is November 15, will I be able to send these scores for that deadline?)</p>

<p>Junior year classes:
AP Biology (5 on AP exam)
AP English Lang & Comp (5 on AP exam)
Honors Pre-Calculus
Honors US History II
Honors Spanish III
Music in our Lives</p>

<p>Senior year classes:
AP European History
AP English Lit & Comp
Honors Calculus
Honors Chemistry
Honors Spanish IV
Photography
Independent Study: something artistic, I am doing this second semester so I haven't really worked it out completely yet, but I'm hoping to be able to make it honors level (I have a friend who did with a music-related IS).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
I changed schools at the end of ninth grade, so ninth grade activities = at my old school. Luckily, most of my applications ask for a limited list of which activities are most important to me. Tenth grade was a bit lame, and I am aware of this. :\
9: Model UN
9: Quiz Bowl
10: HOBY Leadership Seminar (summer)
11: Internet
11-12: Book Club
11-12: Art Club (11: Vice President, but the presidents never showed up, so I was basically president, and I mention this in an essay, 12: President)
12: Yearbook</p>

<p>Job:
I started a job at the local grocery store at the beginning of summer in tenth grade, and have held the same job since. During the school year, I work about 15 hours a week on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, while during the summer I work 4-5 days a week for 20-30 hours usually. I feel like my bosses like me and that I am one of the better members of the staff at the store, so is there a way that I can express this to colleges or should I just tell them that I work and leave it at that?</p>

<p>College List:
Safeties:
UMass Amherst (financial AND academic safety, I haven't looked thoroughly into any other safeties though, the rest have only been suggested to me)
Northeastern University
Providence College</p>

<p>Good Matches:
Boston University
?? I didn't realize this category was so.. empty.</p>

<p>Reaches:
Tufts University (applying early decision)
Brown University
Amherst College (not sure if this is a reach or a match)</p>

<p>So basically, I am applying ED to Tufts, and really hoping to get in there. Mainly, I am curious about my chances at Tufts, but comments on the other schools on my list are welcome as well.</p>

2

<p>I think that applying ED to Tufts is a good move. Your GPA and rank make you competitive. Question about your SAT IIs: why don't you take the writing SAT II since you did so well on the SAT I version? Another question is: did you do any community service at all? Tufts is really into this.</p>

<p>Are you applying to the dual-degree BFA/BA program that Tufts has with the SMFA or just to Tufts? What are you thinking about majoring in?</p>

<p>Another match to consider: NYU</p>

<p>And I'd say Amherst is a reach as well.</p>

<p>BTW, if you're interested in more Tufts student/alum's opinions, you could re-post this in the Tufts forum. There are several regular posters who could help you out. (P.S. I'm a Tufts senior.)</p>

3

<p>I'm just planning to apply to Tufts, because while I love art a lot, I want to pursue something a bit more solid in college (that may be the wrong choice of words, but hopefully it gets the point across). </p>

<p>In junior year, I was in Interact, which is a community service club, but I stopped attending this year because I never really had time to participate in the activities, which usually happened on Fridays or weekends, and I have to work on those days because my family is... not wealthy, at all. However, with art club, I've face painted at festivals and painted murals and other things that might be considered community service.</p>

<p>I didn't realize there was a writing SAT II, so I was planning to take Spanish w/listening, Literature, and probably one of the math ones. </p>

<p>thanks for the reply! :)</p>

4

<p>lolabelle makes very good comments above.</p>

<p>I see you as a very good candidate for Tufts ED also, but I worry about those SAT IIs being too low--so I would let Tufts know that you disatisfied with these and are retaking them. (Though don't dwell on this in any way or by putting it in any essay).</p>

<p>From your list, it appears that you are interested in staying close to home in Massachusetts. For this reason, I'd like to suggest Williams, Dartmouth (tough reach, but give it a shot), Bowdoin, and Colgate (all matches to slight reaches), and if you don't mind going out of state farther than Rhode Island, consider Rice in Houston, Texas or University of Chicago.</p>

<p>As far as matches, consider Bates, Colby, Holy Cross, Trinity College (Connecticut), Boston College, Boston University, and maybe Vassar or Wellesley.</p>

<p>P.S. I don't want you to apply to all these--I'm just throwing out schools for you to consider in your search to find the right one for you. Also, consider that with a 4.0 GPA, tough courseload, and a 2120 SAT score, you are a great candidate for most any school--so don't consider all these schools impossible to get into. I think you have good chances at most, if not all, of them. Once you get your SAT IIs higher, which I'm sure you will, you might get accepted at all of them.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the list of colleges! I do want to stay fairly close to home, preferably within an hour or two's driving distance, but I haven't really looked at most of those so I will definitely start to do so. Finding match schools has been pretty tough for me because I have trouble differentiating between a match and a reach sometimes so that list was quite helpful.</p>

6

<p>I agree with Calcruzer except that Colgate is not in the same league as the matches/reaches (s)he listed: it's certainly a safety. I think applying to Tufts is a good move, like I said, and I'd be surprised if you didn't get in! :-)</p>

<p>PS: There used to be an SAT II Writing test... they must have gotten rid of it. I took it four years ago.</p>

7

<p>I think I remember reading something about an SAT II Writing test being eliminated after it was added to the SAT I, now that I think about it.</p>

8

<p>colgate is definitely not a safety..colgate is a reach...</p>

9

<p>I would have to say that, judging from Colgate's information on CollegeBoard.com, if it's a reach it'd be a low reach, based on just class ranks. But Colgate is in NY, and I am in MA, and I want to stay within an hour or two of home so that I can visit freely, so even if it were a good fit in every other way, it'd probably not quite make my list simply because of the location.</p>

10

<p>Princeton Review rates the selectivity (difficulty of getting in) as a 98 for both Tufts and Colgate, and rates Colgate as the 13th toughest liberal arts college to get into. (Tufts ranks as the 25th toughest national university). Therefore, I'll stick with my ranking of Colgate as a high match/low reach for you--and definitely not a safety.</p>

<p>As you point out, though--it's a mute issue in your case, since it is too far away to fall within your criteria. Good luck with the others.</p>

<p>Oh, and yes, they eliminated the SAT II Writing when it was included as part of the SAT I "Reasoning Test". The reason it was added was because the University of California system threatened to drop the SAT as a rating criteria if the writing section was not added to the SAT I.</p>

<p>P.S. You have to realize that when someone like you posts and doesn't tell us where you live, someone like myself has to guess that you live in Massachusetts, and where in Massachusetts you live (I thought you lived in the west near Amherst which is why I suggested Colgate, now I'm see that you posted on your profile that you live on Cape Cod--so I apologize for my error.)</p>

<p>Best of luck with your applications and I hope you enjoy your college years.</p>

11

<p>I can definitely see Colgate as a low reach/high match, and I didn't realize that it had the same selectivity ranking as Tufts, which goes to show how terrible I am at this school categorization thing. (: I did fail to mention my geographical information/desires, which I should probably have brought up in my first post. I'll take note of that if I end up posting another post like this one at some point.</p>

<p>Thank you for your advice!</p>

12

<p>Hm, that is news to me. In my personal experience, kids from my school who went to Colgate were not in the top 10% of students, which gleaned the applicants to Tufts and the like.</p>

13

<p>Might want to look at Holy Cross.</p>