I was denied by some Ivies…typical. So I found out I was accepted to both schools.Whoo. However, I am split between both. I was wondering if anyone has some input they can share about each.
Some background:
Emory
I applied to the college of arts and science. I plan on doing well to get into the excellent business school they have to offer.
Tufts
I applied to the college of arts and science. I plan on doing computer science, perhaps switch into Engineering.
Dilemma
I want to do both business and computer science yet Emory lacks strong comp sci and Tufts lacks strong business. I am not sure what to do bc both schools are excellent.
Then do your research on each school. See where you would fit better. Atl or Boston? Also do a little soul searching to see if you would rather do comp Sci or business.
Tufts is the better overall school… but it all depends on what you want to do after college
I don’t think Tufts is objectively overall better - both Emory and Tufts are great universities and quite comparable in terms of quality.
You’re choosing an undergrad college…not a grad school. While it’s important that both schools have decent departments in the majors in which you’re interested, it’s not important that they be “highly-ranked” in those areas - especially since undergrad departments typically aren’t ranked anyway. I do think one minor exception could be business, if a student were really strongly wanting to go to a business school. But I don’t think that’s the dealbreaker - I think it’s just one more piece of information to take into account.
Emory has a computer science major. If you went to Emory and got into Goizueta, you could maybe double major or minor in computer science. But there is of course the flip question: What if you didn’t get into Goizueta? Would you be happy at Emory if you had to major in something else?
Tufts doesn’t have a business major. Economics is not business - it’s a social science that, among other things, studies business - but a lot of people use it as a substitute major if they are interested in careers in business. They also have a quantitative economics major and an engineering psychology major, both of which may be useful to you given your interest in computer science.
Do note, though, that while it is pretty easy to go into business later (You can get an MBA or even just work in business with a BS in computer science or engineering) it’s a bit harder to switch into CS later (you’d have to take prerequisite coursework with undergrads and play some catch-up to do later work in the field).
Tufts
I’d say choose the stronger comp sci school. It’s harder to switch from CS than it is to business. Plus most places have business anyways.
Plus you already got in to both school’s college of arts/sciences.
It’s all preference though
CS at Emory isn’t bad it just isn’t as strong as some other schools. And Emory B-school is pretty damn good.
Emory has one of the top undergrad B-schools in the country…
Tufts has one of the top undergrad CS programs in the country…
But Tufts also has one of the top Masters in Engineering Management programs in the country which offers a Minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership at the undergrad level. This is one of the most popular minors at Tufts and is a really good complement to a CS degree for those who are interested in high tech business and entrepreneurship. The founder of Ebay went to Tufts. Boston is second to The Valley in Tech and venture capital, while Atlanta is quite a ways down on the list.
http://gordon.tufts.edu/programs/entrepreneurial-leadership-program
If you want to go into finance/investments then Tufts has one of the top undergrad Economics departments. It offers an undergrad major in quantitative economics that is a good complement to Computer Science. Alums from the finance world recently funded a minor in Finance. CS/Econ Majors can end up at the top Wall Street Firms and Boston is the third largest finance center behind New York and San Francisco.
The Econ department actually produces more research than Emory - despite not having a Phd program. Eugene Fama - who won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economics is an alum and he won the prize in the same area that he did undergrad research.
Tufts also has one of the top investment clubs in the country. It invests real money. The CEO of the largest bank in the country (JP Morgan) is a Tufts Alum so Tufts places quite a few grads there. One of the recent grads made Fortune’s 30 under 30 list as the co-manager of one of JP Morgan’s multi-billion dollar funds.
http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6e8ef18b42f95fb63eec0da18&id=a56c87f766
Lol. I am in the same position.
I am kind of leaning towards Tufts at this moment. However, the facilities at Emory (overall dorms, classrooms) are way better.