<p>I know a lot about both colleges- my brother goes to bc and i took a summer course at tufts which required me to spend about 4 hours, 5 days a week on the campus. Rather than make you read a ton more, I will give you a pros and cons list for each.</p>
<p>BC: Pros- Really strong community. Like the location in the suburbs. I know more about bc than i do tufts, and feel i can be fairly happy(though maybe not totally happy). </p>
<p>Cons- Academically not as rigorous as tufts. Not as strong in the sciences or poly science as tufts, which i am going for. More core requirements, which will mean more classes heaped onto someone looking to double major.</p>
<p>Tufts: Pros- Stronger academically, especially in the areas i want to major in. I feel like it’s possible i could achieve total satisfaction at tufts, which i don’t feel at bc. Less core requirements.</p>
<p>Cons- Don’t care for the social aspect. Really lacks comradeship among the student body. Feel like its possible i could be unhappy at tufts, and i don’t feel i could be unhappy at bc. Seems to me to be a lot of people who are really odd to. Location is less than desireable (twice when i was taking the course there were notices that someone was raped or assaulted less than three blocks from tufts). </p>
<p>Feel free to affirm or deny any of these things, but i would appreciate as unbiased an account of either. Thanks.</p>
<p>Addendum: Forget to mention i got ok financial aid at bc, and still awaiting tufts financial aid. I got about 10,000 more per year at bu than at bc, but bu is notably generous in financial aid while bc is known as pretty stingy for an elite institution. Not sure about tuft’s financial aid reputation but i will post when known. If they give me considerably less than bc (say 10,000 less per year) then i will most likely go bc.</p>
<p>BC’s science program isn’t as rigorous than Tuft’s science program, but is very good in it’s own right. No matter what school you go to, as long as you work hard, you’ll get to your end goal and that shouldn’t change between going to BC or Tufts. </p>
<p>Now the question is, what do you want to take out of your college experience? I think this question should be more appropriate. Undergrad is essentially your last 4 years of freedom before you’re dedicated to your masters work or work in general. </p>
<p>If you care about sports, BC wins hands down ;).</p>
<p>BC kids are happier hands down. Most Tufts kids are Ivy rejects (so are BC kids), so they have this kind of attitude that they need to make up for it somehow, so there’s academic competition. BC kids care about school, but they don’t talk about grades all the time.</p>
<p>“Not as strong in the sciences or poly science as tufts, which i am going for.”</p>
<p>This would kind of win it for me. Tufts was my first choice (deny) and BC my second (accept) and because you said that Tufts is better for what you are majoring in that would give a BIG plus to Tufts. Have you visited and maybe stayed over at both schools to get more of a feel of the social life? (I know it’s kind of close to the deadline, but call and they might let you).</p>
<p>nah i agree with bcart. its 4-year undergrad. as long as you take a strong courseload and make the grades you’re gonna go far, especially if you want to get into a grad or medschool. grades are #1, besides most of the crap you study in undergrad is covered in the first few months, even weeks, of med and graduate school.</p>
<p>my mom went to tufts - she did not like it. nothing to do in surrouding area of medford-somerville (residential) - not even that nice. have to catch a bus to harvard square which is a bit of a hike. tufts diverse populations do not mix that much. population is predominantly jewish. two different crowds of people - uphill and downhill depending on where you live (uphill dorms or downhill dorms). education great at bc. tufts a huge disappointment to my mom - had a lot of t.a.'s - a lot of money to pay for t.a.'s - suggest tufts is overrated.</p>
<p>nameless, that might have been your mother’s experience at Tufts, but I assume that was at least 18 - 20 years ago. The situation at Tufts could be very different now.</p>
<p>The Davis Square area (by Tufts) is a hot spot now - good restaurants, shopping and night life. There is a great deal of activity. I also don’t think the Red Line went to Davis Square 15-20 years ago, so it was a little more difficult to get into Boston. It is a real easy commute now.</p>
I can’t comment on the happiness of BC students, but my experience is that everything you’re saying about Tufts students is wrong. Sure, many may be Ivy rejects, but pretty much everyone I know is happy to be here. There really isn’t much academic competition; people tend to study together and help each other out. I tend to be pretty competitive academically and when I talk to my friends about tests and such they’re usually hesitant to talk about grades.</p>
<p>
It’s too bad that your mom had a bad experience here 20-30 years ago, but most of that really isn’t true anymore. Medford/Somerville is obviously not as nice as Chestnut Hill, but the part that Tufts is in is pretty nice. I think Davis Square especially has improved in recent years. Tufts has a shuttle that runs from multiple points on campus to Davis Square, from where you can hop on the red line and get anywhere in Boston (only two stops from Harvard Square). The walk to Davis is only 10-15 minutes anyways if you don’t take the shuttle.
Also, while an abnormally large percentage of Tufts is Jewish, it’s no where near a majority (especially compared to Catholics at BC…). The school is VERY diverse now. Also, as far as uphill v downhill, you’ll likely have friends in both areas.
<p>I think the moral of the story here is that you are looking at two great schools with distinctly different but overall enjoyable (for the right person) vibes. You’ve spent time both places so think about which you liked more, see how the financial aid works, etc. If you feel like you would be much happier at BC but are worried because you feel slightly better about the name of Tufts, than I would go to BC. Not saying that’s how you feel, but it’s the impression I got. </p>
<p>BC’s pre-med does well with acceptance rates. </p>
<p>BC has a very good and well-regarded poli sci department, the students here that are in it love the professors and all have good things to say about it. In Washington DC, the reputation of BC is superb and it will enable you to get internships in Congress (I know this is true because I have one). It’s not like Tufts will make you rich and successful and BC will make you poor. </p>
<p>That being said, BC may make you poorer if Tufts gives you better aid, but Tufts removed need-blind admissions this year so I don’t know how that will go. It’s very possible that they admitted a more affluent class and will have more aid to give to you, or that they have very little aid to give out. I would always try to negotiate with aid though, you’ve got nothing to lose and thousands of dollars to gain. </p>
<p>Tufts has a stereotype for bitter, hyper-competitive students, but stereotypes like that move decades behind reality. If you aren’t bitter and super competitive, Tufts won’t make you that way. Thousands of Tufts alumni could give you thousands of different answers. And last I checked, almost everybody was either an Ivy reject or didn’t even both applying to the Ivies. People can say BC/Tufts are backups for Harvard, but then again so is every other school except maybe Princeton and Yale. </p>
<p>Look at the course catalogs for both schools. I think this is something that is vitally important but often goes unlooked. The area around the school, the sports teams, the layout of the campus are all things to take into account, but you are paying money for the classes. If one school has a lot of classes that seem fascinating to you and the others look dull, that’s a tiebreaker right there. You can get it for BC from the website of each individual department. </p>
<p>Don’t forget about the coin toss and Miss Cleo.</p>
<p>Son is a senior at Tufts his girlfriend, or almost 6 years, is a junior at BC. Son did not look at or apply to BC and girlfriend did not apply to Tufts. Both have been happy with their decisions. Son, rejected TWO ivys, to go to Tufts. Part of his reason was the “cooperative” nature of the students compared to the competitive nature he had been told the Ivys had. He has had two great summer internships and had competing post-graduation job offers way back on October.</p>
<p>Getting from Tufts to Boston is really not much worse than going from BC to Boston but going from Tufts to your girlfriend at BC has been a pain.</p>
<p>BC - no cars allowed for student. At Tufts, after freshman year a student can pay to bring their car to campus. This car optioncan be nice if you want to get away from campus on the weekend and go skiing, etc.</p>
<p>I would be looking at your major and academics. Which school fits you better. Son’s younger sister did not even consider applying to Tufts. She did not want 6 required semesters of foreign language and did not want to study engineering (no language requirement). That was what decided it for her. Whereas, she did apply to BC (legacy) and was accepted into the honors program, but she current plans are to turn BC down. Reason? It distribution requirements and lesser strength, compared to her other options, in the sciences. My point is you need to study the school. Any of us can tell you our opinions, but do some investigations. School size, location, academics, etc, check them out. Party scene? What are you looking for? </p>
<p>If you have specific question, I may be able to track down an answer.</p>
<p>I just want to make a small correction to Smoda61’s post. Some BC students do have cars on campus. D has had one her entire senior year. It depends on your program. Nursing and Education majors can get permits for a car and I am aware of others getting them by “tweaking” the rules a bit. I don’t want to provide any details on that, but it can be done with a little imagination.</p>