<p>I’m sorry that it seems that your parents are just looking for a prestigious brand name rather than the place that might be right for you. You need to be thinking about the college’s size, campus, academic strengths, student body, geographic region, distance from home, whether you will interact primarily with profs or TAs, etc, etc, etc. College is not a Rolex watch, it is the place you will be living and learning for the next 4 years.</p>
<p>When you get to top schools like JHU, Tufts, whatever, there really isn’t a “match” because these schools are still very very selective (up on par with ivies in terms of selectivity).</p>
<p>In regards to Tufts, their really reputable in international relations, which is different from poli-sci. They are also really known for their sciences (e.g. people going on the pre-dental, pre-vet, pre-med path). That being said, they also have an emphasis on international business. As for their engineering, Tufts has an emphasis on entrepreneurial leadership (e.g., using engineering and business together). They have an entire institute dedicated to it. They also have an excellent computer science program like someone mentioned earlier.</p>
<p>Someone earlier was correct in that many top schools don’t necessarily offer an undergraduate business program, rather, they offer economics. Tufts has economics and quantitative economics.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, many notable firms recruit at Tufts:</p>
<p>Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, JPM (the CEO is a Tufts alum), Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, State Street, UBS, D.E. Shaw, BlackRock, Lincoln Labs, Google, and Microsoft all recruit at Tufts.</p>
<p>They also have a strong alumni network, so you probably are very likely to get an interview with someplace else through an internal recommendation (I am sure that’s also true for the other schools on your list).</p>
<p>As for Boston to NYC, it actually takes about 3.5-4 hours by bus. Car I don’t know. But you can always take a plane for like 25 bucks (Seriously, Delta has a deal where you can take a “shuttle plane” to NYC). That trip is about 30-45 minutes.</p>