<p>My D is deciding among these three, having decided that UPenn and Georgetown are not for her. Brandeis offered merit money, but she doesn't like it as much - too small and self-contained, she fears. She's interested in history, political science, math, philosophy and likes Baltimore and Boston about the same. She's very liberal and into politics, but welcomes discussions with individuals of all political perrspectives. She just visited all three and still is undecided. Any insights as to the best place for her? Time is running out . . .</p>
<p>Tufts. Okay - I will admit my biases up front - of course I think Tufts.</p>
<p>Here's why:
*Brandeis is not in the same league as Tufts. Ignore the rankings - Brandeis, while a very solid school, just does not have the reputation that Tufts does.
*JHU is apparently a pressure cooker - not for history/math/poli sci types, but the competition is supposedly ferocious. No need to waste four years of your life going through that.
*Tufts is 10 minutes from the Davis T stop, so it's 20 min. from Harvard Square and about 30 min from downtown Boston. Davis Square is also very cool. No need for a car. Contrast Brandeis - you really need a car to get off campus, and, while Waltham is a cool town, it's not Cambridge or Boston. Sure, there is a shuttle into Boston, but that's just not the same as having a walk/short T ride into the city.<br>
*Tufts is quite liberal and it's easy to find people who are politicially inclined (in both directions, though there aren't many conservatives on campus). Not sure about the other two.
*This is coming from an engineer/liberal arts double major - but Tufts is fantastic for people with varied interests. My profs went out of their way to help me out, making sure I could satisfy the reqs for both majors and graduate in four years. They LOVE people who do things like engin/French majors, engin/history, bio/Russian, physics/math/poli sci, bio/drama, you name it. (All of those combos are people I know.)</p>
<p>I'm biased - and most of the people here are - so wander over to the JHU and Brandeis boards, too.</p>
<p>We also considered Hopkins, but although Baltimore waterfront is nice; the area around Hopkins is not so nice and there have been a few incidents. Check at the student newspapers at both to compare.</p>
<p>Boston>>> Baltimore</p>
<p>I will relay this info to D. It's good to know that Tufts students love their school so much. I am biased in favor of Hopkins, in part because I have a much more positive view of Baltimore than many CC contributors. As I mentioned on the Hopkins site, I've lived and worked in both cities and found Baltimore to be more friendly with better weather and cheaper housing. I used to call Baltimore the best kept secret on the east coast. That may still be true.</p>
<p>True, but isn't JHU dangerous? (my friend has two parents who are profs at Hopkins and they express concern about the city/campus)</p>
<p>I have relatives who have lived a few blocks from Hopkins for almost 40 years and they do not find the area or campus any more or less dangerous than a comparable area in any large city.</p>
<p>Regarding Brandeis, I agree with Aries. When I was applying to schools, Tufts was a reach for me while Brandeis was a safety (I got into Tufts ED though so I ended up withdrawing my app from Brandeis). Tufts is definitely regarded as a stronger school, academically. Socially, I also believe Tufts to be superior to Brandeis for the reasons that you, yourself, mentioned. </p>
<p>As for JHU, several of my friends turned down JHU for Tufts. It all comes down to how your daughter feels on each of the campuses. Personally, when deciding where to apply ED, I considered JHU and ended up deciding on Tufts because I liked the overall feel of Tufts (sudents, faculty, campus) better and because I felt that JHU would feel more competitive overall--even though I'm not a med-school bound person. Good luck to your D in deciding! So little time left!!</p>