<p>I apologize for an old debate like this, but everyone seemed to focus on pre-med or engineering, so what about enon?</p>
<p>Any comments are sincerely appreciated!</p>
<p>I assume you mean economics. Right? I will just role with that. Both are great universities by the way. CMU is more science and tech focused whereas Tufts gives a more holistic view of things (in my opinion).</p>
<p>That being said, Tufts economics offers two tracks: regular economics and quantitative economics. The research opportunities are really good with professors, etc. and the access to the Fletcher school allows the applicability to economics in the real world. Indeed, the best part is having “useful economics”–like describing the economic implications of health care reform, detailing the impact on tax cuts versus deficit spending, etc. etc. And it’s not biased. You see both perspectives on issues. It’s great because you actually see the relevance of current events.</p>
<p>A lot of the economics is focused on helping the world and for development. But there is differently a niche that is focused on financial economics, monetary economics, etc.</p>
<p>Indeed, the Tufts Fed Challenge Team took 2nd in the regional competition. They beat MIT, Harvard (who won nationals last year), BC, Middlebury, Yale (who had Robert Schiller as an advisor), Dartmouth, and Brown to name a few. I believe they lost to Bentley who got runner up last year and went on to win nationals this year.</p>
<p>So that has to say something about their economics program.</p>
<p>But there is also a huge group of students that want to go into finance. Economics is pretty much the only out lit for this (much like at Harvard), but Tufts undergraduate investment club is really on the rise. Indeed, Goldman Sachs recruits actively for Investment Banking. Other firms include DE Shaw, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, UBS, etc. So some kids use economics in order to get into the financial world.</p>
<p>But there is also much recruitment by the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, the State Department, Treasury Department, and other economic think tanks. This is because of the Fletcher school and the emphasis on internationalism (Thus, you get a lot of research opportunities and job opportunities).</p>
<p>Lastly, since you are in the Boston area, the professors amongst the top schools work together a lot. This is exciting when considering the amount of awesome economists that exist in the Boston area (and the fact that there is a Federal Reserve Bank!).</p>
<p>Like all professors at Tufts, professors are really nice and approachable and all hold PhD’s in their respective fields. So it’s nice because you don’t have TA’s teach the class, but rather, actual professors.</p>
<p>The only big class is the intro to economics (like at every school) but even that is taught by a Professor who holds office hours, will help students, etc. There are recitations for the class which are led by TA’s. After that though, all the classes are really small and great.</p>
<p>My buddy at Harvard complained that his intro to economics class taught by Greg Mankiw only came to class like 3 times during the semester and the whole class was pretty much taught by TA’s. I felt bad for him. But one thing that is nice is having professors that care even in an introductory course.</p>
<p>Hope that helps! Best of luck!</p>
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<p>If you take this class in the Fall, you will have probably the best professor in the economics department, George Norman, who is simply fantastic.</p>
<p>No one ever puts this in their introductory statement, which I find confusing. Which school did you like better in terms of atmosphere? Which is cheaper for you, and by how much? What are you looking to do post-graduation.</p>
<p>Thanks a million to buzzers and TuftsStudent, for such explicit details!!
I really like Tufts entrepreneur leadership minor, but I heard that Tepper is really something, so can you please compare a bit?</p>
<p>Tepper is a business school and Tufts doesn’t have a business school.</p>
<p>I actually would prefer Tufts in this instance and here is why:</p>
<p>First, Tufts is a global university that stresses studying abroad, internationalism, innovation, and impacting the world. Their entrepreneurship program is supposedly tough, but you get a lot out of it. Additionally, the Gordon Institute, of which this is part of, really pushes kids to start their own firms. There is a group that started a book site and were featured in the NYT. Another group that won the annual 100K business competition to help people get home faster in Vietnam. So it’s actual projects in an increasingly global world. Add in the Fletcher school, and you can access using business in the real world even more fully.</p>
<p>Second, business undergrad doesn’t matter so much. Most B-schools are looking for diversity. Having an undergraduate business degree doesn’t mean much in a world where you are getting an MBA. In that respect, having something like economics or experience in finance or starting a company becomes more relevant. But even people who are engineers or studied art history are starting to get attention because of that whole “diversity thing.” Indeed, even Harvard doesn’t have an undergraduate business degree. At the end of the day, an economics degree is more impressive than a finance or business degree.</p>
<p>Third, that’s why i like the entrepreneurship leadership as a minor. The Gordon Institute is great and offers a unique opportunity for students. There is a push for it to be a major as well (and I think that starts next year or the year after or something), but either way, I think the flexibility of having that and something like economics under your belt sends a way stronger signal out there.</p>
<p>Fourth, you need to ask yourself what you want to do. Is it entrepreneurship? Is it finance? Wall Street? Manage a fund? Non-profit. International Business. If any of these, Tufts has it covered. With the recruitment from the firms I said above plus the whole internationalism/“save the world”/usefulness, your education is more meaningful in that way in that you actually have the chance to do some big things. What’s nice is that you can control it—you can choose if you want to actually start a company, if you really want to go into venture capital or whatever, of if you just want to learn theory.</p>
<p>The best part is that you aren’t “stuck” in just a business school. At Tufts, you can go across the school of engineering and the school of arts and sciences. It allows for a more interdisciplinary/cross-study majors/minors. This comes in handy in the real world and also sets you apart.</p>
<p>It’s two different extremes. You need to ask yourself if you want an undergraduate business school or a diversified education. It’s your choice. And plenty of people have picked the former. But don’t think that just because you don’t have a business school you are out of the loop.</p>
<p>Indeed, Tufts ties for SECOND with both Upenn and Dartmouth for the number of UNDERGRADUATE alumni that are current Fortune 100 CEO’s. Yes, not the top 500 companies, the TOP 100 companies.</p>
<p>And Upenn and Dartmouth both have business schools (with Upenn’s being especially notable).</p>
<p>And there is definitely an alumni network out there for business, venture capital, finance, entrepreneurship, etc. Tufts has really good alumni relations (as I am sure CMU does too). Indeed, there are students who even help Tufts undergrads even though they just went to Fletcher). So that’s always great.</p>
<p>Just some stuff to think about. I hope that helps!</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Wow, you have been veeeery helpful! Thank you so much!!! 
Just curious, are you a current student in Tufts?</p>