Everything you (might) need to know about Tufts

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
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<p>Ask me if you still have questions. If I can't answer them, I'm sure I can find out someone who can, or the other Tufts students that frequent this board might know.</p>

<p>Some frequently asked questions concerning the language requirement (copied from another post):
The language requirement can be circumvented in a few ways. You're required to take 6 semesters of language (in one language) OR take 3 semesters of language and 3 culture classes. The important thing to be aware of is that you only need to achieve 3 semesters worth of profiency; at the beginning of the year you take a placement exam. If you score well enough, you don't need to take any languages at all - you're done. You can also use SAT IIs to pass out of the requirement.</p>

<p>see <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/romlang/Exam.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/romlang/Exam.htm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>"Since the language requirement at Tufts aims at mastery of a level of second language proficiency and not a set number of courses, it is to your advantage to enroll in the most advanced language course for which your high school studies have prepared you, unless you plan to start a new language at Tufts. For this reason, we urge you to prepare for the Placement Test by reviewing material from your last language course or by reading in the foreign language. "</p>

<p>APs in languages can exempt you from the requirement. If you manage to gain proficiency in one language, you don't need to take the culture courses.</p>

<p>Information about Tufts in general:
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Information about APs:
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/gen-undergrad.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/gen-undergrad.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Information about core requrements (liberal arts):
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/liberal-info.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/liberal-info.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Information about core requirements (engineering):
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/engineering-info.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/engineering-info.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Information about studying abroad:
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/special-academic.html#Abroad%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/special-academic.html#Abroad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Information about departmental courses and major requirements:
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/laDepartments.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/laDepartments.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Information concerning the academic calendar:
<a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/calendar.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ase.tufts.edu/bulletin/calendar.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Information about social life?</p>

<p>non existent?</p>

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<p>What about the day for admitted students? Anyone know that date?</p>

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<p>I know those days are April 20, 21, and 24. But I was wondering which one is the best day to go on? Is it bad to go on April 20th because it's 4/20?</p>

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<p>How are the dorms?
How is the food?
what percentage of classes are discussion based?
What percentage of classes utilize TA's?
How do kids date and socialize?
Grade deflation?
Physics department? Studio Art? Thanks!</p>

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<p>add these:
how are the career service and employment oppurtunities after tufts? good alumni network??
any top ibanking firms recruit there???</p>

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<p>
[quote]
how are the career service and employment oppurtunities after tufts? good alumni network??
any top ibanking firms recruit there???

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I like the premed advising here as everything seems to be well coordinated and very informative. The departments are very aware of our reputation for producing good doctors so they do the best they can to make sure our graduates come away prepared. In our career services department I've seen mock interview rooms so I assume they give you practice (though I haven't actually gone through it myself). Good alumni network and ibanking firms? I don't know much about it. The Tufts presence on Wall Street, from what I hear, is there, but not as big as the other schools. I don't know that much other than that. Any econ/IR Tufts people know?</p>

<p>
[quote]
How are the dorms?

[/quote]

Mediocre. There are nice ones, there are some pretty atrocious ones. But regardless of where you live, somehow the constant feelings of residing in one place let you get over how dreary or wonderful your location is; consistancy numbs.</p>

<p>
[quote]
How is the food?

[/quote]

We have some of the best food in the nation! Not many schools can beat our food, although I must say, after 6-8 months of it the repetition gets to me. That's any school though - even Cornell or UCLA who supposedly have comparable/better food than ours. The freshman year meal plan allows you to eat at any time you want as it's an unlimited plan. Want an apple? Want silk soymilk (i can't believe they actually offer this for the masses to consume, it's quite expensive if you think about it after going to the store)? Go to the dining hall.</p>

<p>
[quote]
what percentage of classes are discussion based?

[/quote]

This isn't quantifiable. Really depends on the classes you're in. A lot of courses have a recitation or discussion section to go over topics that have been mentioned in class in order to provide an interactive experience. At least in the one history course I took this was procedure. There are also writing fellows and workshops in many courses (english, history) that are designed to improve your writing in ALL disciplines at Tufts which I really appreciate. Because I graduate in one year I'm trying to get all the english help I can get - writing essays may be the bane of my existance but they do get easier with grueling experience - even as a science major.</p>

<p>
[quote]
What percentage of classes utilize TA's?

[/quote]

I believe this is in the US News report and it's very low. Our student:teacher ratio is one of the lowest in the nation (8:1) and you'll rarely have TAs teaching a course unless it's a freshman english seminar or a lab section (why would professors teach lab?). Although when I took organic chemistry there was an actual course dedicated to the instruction of what was going on in our 3 hour labs every week. ugh.</p>

<p>
[quote]
How do kids date and socialize?

[/quote]

Date? Less frequently - we seem to have this reputation as a hookup school. That's not to say that people don't date as I've seen couples that have been together since the very few months of freshman year and are still together. One wonders if they'll get married :)
Socialize? Yes. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Grade deflation?

[/quote]

You earn your grades in the science department. Everything centers around a B- so it's very difficult to do well, but the nice thing is that you're competing against yourself and the system where people don't try to slit your throat like other premed schools. Be warned however - our program doesn't produce poor premeds for a reason. People drop out because they realize they don't have the determination to get through the rigorous process. It's quite a rite of passage.
Everyone who takes classes in Arts and Leisure, oops, I meant Letters, has a high GPA (well, at least better than mine. maybe i'm just bitter). It seems that the average in the LA is around a B+ to a Bish. Not different than any other school. They still have tons of work though because I see them constantly reading, writing essays, coming up with some topic to present in class. The humanities do their fair share of work as much as I knock 'em down. Oh god the IRs - I'd never do IR. I'd die in a week with that much reading assigned to me. Some people end up dropping IR because they can't handle the workload, but my friends who have survived say it's really worth the experience and they feel that they're getting a good grasp of the discipline.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Physics department? Studio Art? Thanks!

[/quote]

Physics department? Mediocre. There are physics majors, but the general consensus is that it's not that great. Engineering, on the other hand, I hear is really good. Studio art? I have no idea. The museum school offers classes you can take which is nice.</p>

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<p>snuffles: thanks for all of your awesome insights. Very helpful as D weighs Tufts, Cornell and UVA. Do you know anything about the music program and opportunities for non majors to take instrumental lessons and sing at Tufts? Do you have to be in a music dept to take classes at the NE Conservatory?</p>

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<p>At the risk of offending the Jumbos by repeating what may be an old canard, I must raise the following question: I've heard from hs and college kids elsewhere that Tufts is an ivy backup (hey, it was for D) and that a lot of Tufts ugs have the reputation of being jerks after rejection from HYP. What do you think of the students at Tufts?</p>

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<p>Dear Cosmo,
My son is a freshman at Tufts this year. Was accepted last spring to William & Mary and Cornell, among other schools where he was offered scholarships. He is so happy he chose Tufts, he loves it! The students are friendly, supportive, interesting, and motivated. He has met some other Tufts students who also chose Tufts over some of the Ivies, and others who chose not to transfer when a guaranteed transfer to an Ivy was an option for Sophomore year. If location is important, Boston cannot be beat for a college town. I would definately suggest the overnight visit, that is waht sold him on becomming a Jumbo. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I did some digging about physics majors and from what I've heard the lower division intro courses are horrendous but the upper level courses are quite good because the professors actually want to teach the material and thus are more interested in the topics.</p>

<p>
[quote]
snuffles: thanks for all of your awesome insights. Very helpful as D weighs Tufts, Cornell and UVA. Do you know anything about the music program and opportunities for non majors to take instrumental lessons and sing at Tufts? Do you have to be in a music dept to take classes at the NE Conservatory?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The Tufts music department is small, but I am not intimately familiar with its workings with NEC. To find out more information, contact Janet Schmalfeldt, the chair of the music department <a href="mailto:janet.schmalfeldt@tufts.edu">janet.schmalfeldt@tufts.edu</a> in order to find out more about the joint program. The link on the music department website says you can take classes at NEC should you desire: <a href="http://www.tufts.edu/as/music/pos.htm#NEC%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.tufts.edu/as/music/pos.htm#NEC&lt;/a>. There are limitations in course selection as to not flood NEC with students taking courses that are offered at Tufts. The topic of lessons: In order to take music lessons, they must be privately funded. The cost of lessons per semester is $580, but if you major/minor in music, the cost is 90% subsidized for two semesters. However, there is a performance scholarship where if you play in an ensemble for 2 or more semesters, they will pay for a good fraction of the cost (~75%? i'm not sure). <a href="http://www.tufts.edu/as/music/applied.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.tufts.edu/as/music/applied.htm&lt;/a>

[quote]
At the risk of offending the Jumbos by repeating what may be an old canard, I must raise the following question: I've heard from hs and college kids elsewhere that Tufts is an ivy backup (hey, it was for D) and that a lot of Tufts ugs have the reputation of being jerks after rejection from HYP. What do you think of the students at Tufts?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I wouldn't call it as much of a backup as it is a plan B. The choice of words are similarly intentioned but produce a greatly different connotation. There are a bunch of students at Tufts who have gotten into more 'prestigious' institutions but choose not to go. There are many that have come to Tufts begrudgingly. However, it is important to note that by the end of the collegiate experience that MOST of us are happy. Not all are satisfied, a few manage to transfer, but a lot of my friends who originally wanted to leave really ended up loving Tufts and don't regret their decisions for a second. The student satisfaction I bet will be higher on average upon graduation than other institutions of our caliber. We are proud Jumbos :)</p>

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<p>Thank you everyone who has taken the time to reply, and particularly ambassador snuffles. D will be visiting on the 24th to see Tufts again and weigh the relative merits among her choices--all good and with different strengths. Esp strong in Tufts favor is the international focus, location adjacent to Boston and opportunities for music. Do most students hang out in Medford or do they feel like they're a part of Boston and venture in to the city center?</p>

<p>Per Snuffles comment re:transfers: for those students who have left Tufts, are there one or two reasons that seem to dominate? If you could change one thing about Tufts, what would that be?</p>

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<p>does anyone know what the acceptance rate was this year</p>

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<p>and if i need to do an overnight like this week is that possible</p>

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<p>is that really true though (about the h/u versus dating thing)? i cant imagine not having people dating in college...to anyone at Tufts now, what percent of relationships are just hookups versus actual substantive relationships?</p>

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<p>oh man, i dunno. i actually know more people in relationships than people who just go out and hook up...LOL but maybe that's because I don't drink? lmao</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Thank you everyone who has taken the time to reply, and particularly ambassador snuffles. D will be visiting on the 24th to see Tufts again and weigh the relative merits among her choices--all good and with different strengths. Esp strong in Tufts favor is the international focus, location adjacent to Boston and opportunities for music. Do most students hang out in Medford or do they feel like they're a part of Boston and venture in to the city center?</p>

<p>Per Snuffles comment re:transfers: for those students who have left Tufts, are there one or two reasons that seem to dominate? If you could change one thing about Tufts, what would that be?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It really depends on the student. A lot of people I know go into boston 2 times a week whereas others like to stick close to campus. Boston is far enough away that it's not a distraction (40min-1hour max to get in downtown boston inclusive of walking/taking the joey from the campus center and waiting for trains) while being accessible when one presumably wants to go in (clubbing). Copley is the center of shopping though Cambridgeside galleria is about 15-20 minutes away via bus. It's a fantastic college town and the food is great, though a tad expensive and catering to the affluent.</p>

<p>The students that left Tufts felt that Tufts had no sports pride, which I can understand why. I didn't know we had a football team until homecoming came around my freshman year :) Some students also don't like the party atmosphere as they felt that the schedule at Tufts was too "limiting" to their alcoholic tastes. <em>shrugs</em> I know of a few others that transfered out due to family reasons or just the simple feeling of "not being the right place." It's highly individual per person and it's difficult to pin an exact rationale for the miniexodus every year. But the common ones are the prestige-hunters, the sports afficiandos, the 'i don't fit in's, and the hard partiers (not to say they don't exist at Tufts by any means, but everyone has their own image in terms of what they consider to be an ideal social atmosphere).</p>

<p>Hm. If I could change one thing about Tufts? It would be the dormitories. They REALLY need to stop making the exterior pretty while leaving the interior to rot in some dormitories on campus. Some of the buildings - honestly, who would create such atrocious prison cells. Though I must admit living there wasn't that bad, the first impression created a mutual loathing in the relationship between me and my walls.</p>

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<p>I personally feel that Boston is like an extension of the Tufts campus, in that suddenly a city is so accessible to me.</p>

<p>I agree about the dorms - after seeing what Harvard lives in, I wonder why Tufts didn't do the same for our living arrangements. But I don't even think most of the exteriors are pretty - are Lewis, Hodgon, Wren, or Haskell 'pretty', snuffles? lol! That said, I live in South, which is REALLY pretty outside, and VERY nice and clean on the inside, and I love it and am living there again next year.</p>

<p>Oh, and edited to add: I may be full of crap since I do live in a nice dorm, but I don't think the dorms matter that much. People who live in Wren have made their rooms perfectly cute with christmas lights and such. And people who live in Tilton don't seem to mind what their dorm interior looks like, they're still super-social and love it.</p>

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<p>I was mainly referring to the renovation of West and Carmichael - both are easily the prettiest dorms we have on campus (though South is nice because I lived there freshman year). Hodgdon, Lewis (can someone say failed motel 6?), the twin-sisters-anti-riot-dorms: haskell and wren...need to be bulldozed.</p>

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<p>HAHAHAHAHAHAHA......oh man! I <3 snuffles. VERY true about West and Carmichael - West is so pretty on the outside, but I hear the inside is like a garbage dump, the halls are overflowing with trash.</p>

<p>Actually, a while ago, after my friend picked up a package from Hill at 3 pm and came all the way back to South to find a Packages Pending Pickup email for something that had supposedly arrived at 5 21 AM, we started discussing how if Tufts had terrorists, Hill would be bombed first, because of both location and mail services. We then started making a list of other dorms that would soon get the axe after Hill - among them were Wren, Haskell, Lewis, Latin Way (too geometric!!!!), Miller (too green on the inside. gives us a headache), the dining hall portion of Carmichael, Bush (this one was easy when someone said, "can we kill Bush?" and immediately everyone decided to get rid of Bush just b/c of Dubya, LOL). I think that uphill consisted of Houston and Carmichael, while downhill had South, Stratton and Hodgdon (but only because of the food). We also elected to get rid of the portion of fence that prevents you from walking directly from the library steps to the steps in the middle of the campus center, LOL.</p>