Dorms and next steps question

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
1

Hi everyone, I will be a Jumbo this fall, and I have a few questions regarding dorms and roommates. First, I would love to get more information about each dorm hall, as I cannot find any photos, tours, comparisons, or anything like that. Which dorm hall would you consider is the best?

I already committed to Tufts, but I do not know what should I do next? After confirming online that I am attending and paying the deposit, do I also need to send them an e-mail that confirms in writing that I will be attending Tufts? When do I get to choose my dorm room?

I am an international student, btw

2

Congratulations, and welcome to the Tufts family !

I am assuming you will receive some more instructions from Tufts, but here is some information on housing to get you started:

https://ase.tufts.edu/reslife/housing/firstyear.asp

You might want to consider coming early and attending one of the pre-orientation sessions. Here is some information:

http://studentservices.tufts.edu/orientation/preorientation/

Best of luck!

3

Thank you @Mastadon :slight_smile: Are you a current student at Tufts? If so, where do you live?

4

I am an alum, my wife is also an alum and my daughter just graduated. My wife and I live in the suburbs west of Boston.

The “best” dorm varies from person to person.
My daughter started out in South Hall, which is on the “downhill”/Somerville side of campus.

How familiar are you with the campus? Did you get a chance to visit?

Here is my favorite map.

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/Congratulations/visiting/~/media/D48C07DAA8A444C19D325596D3F4B924.JPG

5

I am not familiar at all with the campus, and I will not be able to visit as I am an international student. That’s a nice map. I just hope I can get a single at either Hill or Haskell, but I could not tell you why truthfully. There is not much information online about dorms,

6

Singles are not always a good thing freshman year. Having roommate(s) can make it easier to integrate into the new social environment. Of course there is the risk of getting an incompatible roommate…

The all freshman dorms tend to be more social, but can be noisier. The mixed dorms tend to be quieter, but non-freshman tend to already have a circle of friends.

The central part of the campus between Boston Ave, College Ave, and Professors Row is called “uphill” because it literally resides on a pretty big hill.

There are two major cafeterias, one uphill (in Carnichael Hall) and one downhill (in Dewick Hall), but anybody can eat at either one. Food might be better at the downhill cafeteria.

Hill Hall is uphill, Haskell Hall is downhill.

Here is an aerial view of the campus. It is very compact, so one can get from one side to the other pretty quickly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toYuqOrmQmg

7

My son didn’t really want a single, but he ended up in one at Haskell. It turned out great because there was usually a lot of action in the common area of the suite. He had a nice choice of hanging out there with suite mates that became very good friends or concentrating on his own stuff in his room. He is lucky enough to have a nice lottery position that will allow him to stay downhill in another dorm next year. He will room in a double with one of his suite mates.

8

@Mastadon and @GrudeMonk thank you for your responses! DeWick sounds better, and I would prefer to stay downhill for that reason. I will definitely choose an all freshmen dorm for my first year, and to be honest, I think I would be comfortable both in a single or in a double. I just hope I don’t end up at Houston, their bathrooms have a bad reputation from what I have read.

9

There are different types of singles. Singles that are part of suites can work out well, especially if your suite mates are also freshman. “Stand-alone” singles can be isolating if there is not some sort of common area nearby.

Carmichael has saute station and more “special events” which are kind of cool…
http://dining.tufts.edu/wp-content/uploads/Carm-_Dewick_Dining_Calendar_2015-2016.pdf

All in all the food at Tufts is really good (by university standards) and there are lots of healthy options because Tufts is really big in the area nutrition research.

Students tend to eat at the closest cafeteria, but my group of friends used to rotate between the two for variety and to meet more people. It is a little easier to get to the downhill cafeteria from the uphill dorms because the forces of gravity tend to offset the psychological inertia of walking a little further. If you eat too much, then you work it off walking back up the hill :-).

There are several other places to eat on campus as well:

http://dining.tufts.edu/locations-hours/overview/

The downhill dorms are closer to the performing arts facilities and more “off campus hangouts” (Teele, Powderhouse, Ball Square).

The uphill dorms are closer to the academic facilities, the library and the athletic facilities (other than the football field and outdoor track) and there are some good off-campus hangouts on what is called “The Medford Hillside”. The uphill area has more green-space, more historic buildings and the statue of Jumbo.

Davis Square (the biggest hangout and location of subway to Cambridge and Boston) is closest to the downhill side, so it is easier to walk there from the downhill dorms, but there is a shuttle bus that stops at a couple of uphill locations that both uphill and downhill students tend to use.

The flip side of the “all freshman” logic is that if you do end up befriending older Jumbos, then they can be a valuable resource given their longer tenure at Tufts. Participating in clubs/activities and fraternities/sororities is another way of creating these friendships if you live in an all freshman environment.

Some students love Houston because it tends to be the most “social” dorm. I don’t have first-hand experience with it, but for freshman “social” can equate to “wild” and I could see how if one were on a particularly wild hall, the bathrooms could suffer…

10

Houston being wild and the bathrooms being a mess makes sense! I hadn’t considered the events at Carmichael. I do not see much of a problem getting uphill or downhill, as I plan to use my bike at campus and I really enjoy walking and biking. Your point about suite singles being better than traditional singles also makes sense. I hope I can get one suite single, but I think I will be happy wherever I get. Thanks for your response.

11

Some parts of the US (Florida and the Midwest) are very flat so the hill can be a bigger deal for them. If you enjoy walking and biking then it should be a non-issue.

Depending on where you are from, you may start laughing at us lazy Americans when you see the campus. It is about a third of a mile from Miller to Dewick…

When I was in High School I walked a mile and a half to school each morning, so I did not even notice the hill.

Harvard Square/Harvard is only 2 miles away. MIT/Kendall square is only 4 miles away.

Davis Square is about 1/2 a mile from the downhill side of campus. From Davis Square you can take a bike path to the Minuteman Bikeway which will take you several miles into the suburbs into Lincoln and Concord. It kind of tracks Paul Revere’s Ride. Paul Revere’s ride also took him through Medford Square.

http://minutemanbikeway.org/

If you are into mountain biking, then there is a 2,500 acre reservation with trails just two miles from the uphill side of the campus.

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-north/middlesex-fells-reservation.html

12

I am from Quito, Ecuador, a nice city in the middle of four mountains. There are slopes everywhere!. I don’t think I will have much of a problem at Tufts. My brother and my dad both love mountain biking, and although I am not as good as them, I have some experience holding on to my bike as tight as I can while riding over roots and down huge slopes. I think I will love riding at Tufts! Do you know anything about Tufts Bikes? Can they be taken out of campus? Should I get my own bike to go exploring into the city?

13

Everything is relative. If you are from Quito, then to set expectations properly, I should refer to it as the “bump” rather than the “hill” and the nearby reservation as “off-road” biking rather than “mountain” biking.

Here is the info on Tufts Bikes. You can take them off campus, but I don;t know if they can be taken “off road”. They may be “city bikes” rather than “mountain bikes”. Boston is a very walk able city and is working on being more bike friendly. Bike rental stations (called Hubway), bike lanes and bike paths are becoming more common. Massachusetts/Boston drivers can be a little crazy, so you have to be somewhat careful. Not sure how that compares to Quito.

https://tuftsbikes.com/about/
http://www.thehubway.com/

If you are an outdoorsy type person, you might want to check out the Tufts Mountain Club. It is one of the larger clubs on campus. They schedule lots of events and they manage The Loj - a cabin that Tufts owns up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (these are real mountains about 2 hours drive from Tufts) The Loj is available to all students and Tufts provides a van to get back and forth. The cost is on the website. I know there is hiking and skiing (in the winter) I don’t know if there are biking trails…

https://tuftsmountainclub.org/

There is a Tufts cycling club as well, but I think they are just into road racing.

14

I will try to fit at least one outdoors club in my freshman year. I will see how much I get to bike when I get to Boston, but I think I will buy a bike just for comfort’s sake. I will look into Tufts Mountain Club when I arrive, as I would love to go hiking there. Everything you have told me has only made me more and more excited about going to Tufts in September!

15

With respect to getting your own bike, the big question is where would you store it? My daughter wanted to bring her mountain bike for her junior/senior years (when she was living in an off-campus apartment). She decided against it because she did not have a good place to put it (she lived on the third floor of a house). There were students who figured out ways to make it work. I am not sure what the situation is in various dorms. With road racing bikes it is a little easier because they are usually light enough that you can carry them up stairs.

16

I read on the Tufts website housing page that some of the dorms have indoor bike storage.

17

This is pretty interesting-it is part of the Tufts Sustainability Report.

It lists all the facilities (including dorms) that support using bicycles for transportation…

The Boston area is gradually getting more bike friendly, but it still has a ways to go to match cites like Stockholm…

https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/tufts-university-ma/report/2015-11-12/OP/transportation/OP-21/

18

Did you receive information on the pre-orientation programs?

Here is some information on the pre-orientation program for people who like the outdoors. I think it is run by the Tufts Mountain Club.

It would seem like pre-orientation would be beneficial to international students, but maybe Tufts has other programs for you…

http://studentservices.tufts.edu/orientation/preorientation/TWO.asp