I am planning to major in sociology, who knows if that is what I’ll end up doing (definitely will be in social sciences and/or humanities) and I want to go to law school so my GPA is a top priority. A lot of my pros and cons overlap for both schools (ex: con: frats are a big aspect of the social scene at both, both have hill(s)… pro: both have good food and good housing possibilities post freshman year) so I’ll highlight the ones that don’t overlap. Both gave me comparable aid but Tufts gave me no loans so I’d graduate debt free.
I honestly don’t know how to gauge how good or lackluster the social sciences and humanities programs that I am interested in are at both of the schools, because they both seem fine to me. (Like I said, I want to major in sociology but I’m also interested in art history, history, classics, and anthropology)
If anyone has any insight into ANYTHING about Tufts or Cornell, please share. I am interested in other people’s experiences with these schools and how they feel the programs and overall school experiences vary. I have visited both, liked both enough, and was ready to commit to Tufts after leaving, but…
concerns for tufts:
I have chronic illness that effects my joints, accessibility+ disability services are not good and not going to improve as per an article recently published @ the tufts daily
socioeconomic and racial diversity is a big yikes
housing crisis, bad freshman housing
everyone there seems like an extrovert and as an introvert I feel like I’d have a difficult time making friends first year, and that I might get overwhelmed with the social scene ?
not a lot of people at Tufts go (or want to go?) to law school ? (only 17% of the class of 2017 went to grad school after graduating, whereas 1/3 of Cornell alum go to grad school after graduating)
good things about tufts:
experimental college
nice community
it has the ~liberal arts college~ vibe going for it…
I got selected for a really cool Tufts scholarship program with $$$ to support research
really liked the students that I met there, they seemed interested and engaged but then again who knows ???
access to Boston
smaller undergraduate study body (5,541 vs Cornell’s 14,907)
more collaborative ? (so I’m assuming less student to student competition than cornell? but this is only anecdotal)
I got more of an “intellectual/learn for the sake of learning” vibe at Tufts than Cornell but I’m positive I’d be able to find that at Cornell if I sought it out LOL
concerns for cornell:
in the middle of nowhere, ithaca cannot offer me what medford/boston can
competitive ? among students
isolated & depressing
the winters feel like they are worse in ithaca but what do I know
student culture seemed questionable
very pre-professional
lacks some of the student culture things that felt present at tufts (but again, what do I know haha)
good things about cornell:
good disability services
I have good friends there
more traditional college experience (see: lots of traditions, idyllic campus, sports → hockey!!!, etc)
cornell dairy
nice freshman dorms and I already have a roommate
name/ivy league prestige (something my family is more concerned about than I am)
feeds into T15 law schools (?) and I can cross enroll at Cornell Law School
You have a really good feel for things in my opinion. I beleive the more uber competitive nature of Cornell is in the science pre med area. Cornell is Cornell. Big time admit for you Tufts is so great too. Tough call.
If money is the same or not an issue I would lean Cornell. Especial with the better disability help. but it is cold and snowy in winter. Boston too but not nearly as isolated but your law school prestige will matter more in the end. So where you think you’ll thrive as a student and get great grades and prepare for your lsat. And have some fun Life comes at you fast.
It’s hard to do better than Cornell for your interests; it’s absolutely top-notch in all of those disciplines. Linguistics (especially Indo-European linguistics) is a related area in which Cornell excels.
I disagree that Cornell CAS is more pre-professional than Tufts. In fact, Cornell outperforms Tufts in PhD production per capita despite having colleges like the hotel school, architecture, and ILR in which students aren’t aiming for PhDs.
As @privatebanker said, classes in the social sciences and humanities tend to be a great deal more cooperative and less competitive than, say, organic chemistry. This is true of almost every college that grades on a curve in STEM classes.
If the financials work out, Cornell! You will find if very collaborative, especially in your plan of study with many opportunities for undergraduate research. Even in my day I was able to work for a prof (for $) over the summer and do undergrad research wrote a thesis. Ithaca is a vibrant community and the size of the campus means that there is so much going on at any given time. The Johnson Art Museum is wonderful, performing arts center has great shows, lots of musical groups do performances, etc… You will not be bored! Also, I think Boston gets more snow ; ) but Ithaca may be a bit grayer. Again, there was so much going on that I didn’t mind the winters. Plus, it’s hockey season!
To me, it seems like your concerns about Cornell are heavier, so to speak, than your concerns about Tufts.
Tufts isn’t easy, but my guess is that you’ll graduate with a higher GPA than you would at Cornell. Socioeconomic diversity and racial diversity are problems at both schools. The two major freshman dorms at tufts are getting renovated next year. I personally love my dorm (private bathroom too), and I’m a first-year.
The coolest thing about Tufts is the people above all else. I’ve learned as much as I have from my friends as I have inside the classroom. I used to wake up dreading to start the school day in high school, but it’s never like that anymore. I look forward to learning every day, a sentiment which Tufts has fostered within me. Boston is a beautiful city to have at your disposal, abundant with college students among many other things.
Tufts definitely has a liberal arts vibe to it, which I love. Teachers are also very approachable and classes are small. Not sure about Cornell.
You also said you’d graduate debt free from tufts, which is of paramount importance if you’re planning to pay for grad school yourself. Good luck on choosing! Feel free to message me if you have questions
@Tufts2021 what dorm are you in? and yeah, from what I saw during Jumbo Days, I really liked the people (admitted and current students). Do you go into Boston often? And is it as hard to fulfill the distribution requirements as some people say? Also, would you say there’s a stress culture at Tufts?
The Tufts post-graduation survey for the class of 2017 shows 17% going directly to grad school (obviously there will be more people going to grad school after working or doing something else for a few years). That’s based on a 95% “knowledge rate”, so the number is probably pretty good. https://students.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/2017TuftsDestinationsPoster.pdf
The Cornell post-graduation survey for the class of 2017 shows 25.6% going directly to grad school. But that’s based on only a 51.2% response rate – nearly half the class didn’t respond to the survey. Realistically, the people who had firm plans (like grad school acceptance letters or job offers in hand) were probably the most likely to respond, and those who were still up in the air were probably the least likely to respond. If Cornell had gotten data from 95% of the class, the numbers would probably be different. http://www.career.cornell.edu/resources/surveys/upload/Preliminary-Class-of-2017.pdf
For Fall 2017, 266 Cornell grads applied to law school (this could include older grads, not just the current graduating class). The number for Tufts grads was 109. So the number of Cornell applicants was about 2.5 times bigger than the number of Tufts applicants – but Cornell enrolls about 2.5 times as many undergraduates as Tufts, so that doesn’t seem too surprising. https://www.lsac.org/lsacresources/data/top-240-feeder-schools/current-accessible
