How many Tufts apps were there?!?!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
61

<p>

</p>

<p>Unbelievably well-written post, and the very reason I did not apply to Tufts. If I hear one more time about how many a cappella groups there on a campus I will literally jump on my broom! If people want quirky-nerdy, they can upgrade and go to Brown, lose themselves and go to Hampshire or Bennington, or get intense about it and go to Chicago. Positioning Tufts for the nerdy/quirky makes the place really seem unserious, somehow frivolous (just look at the tiresome mendacious YouTube encomiums) and, basically, a place for people who forget to bathe. Tufts should reposition itself as the academic powerhouse it is and forego the colored nose ring crowd. If anything, the quirky/nerdy thing just makes it easier for people to fake the essays, as we all know the stereotype and can pretty much hack it out on a Tufts application with relative ease.</p>

62

<p>kellybbk, It’s a loss for Tufts that people like you are turned off by the marketing and the a cappella obsession. During accepted students visiting day people are always popping up out of nowhere singing show tunes. I have a friend from high school who was equally freaked out by it. There are a lot of smart, fun people here and it is a great place. But …" upgrade to Brown" ? Ouch! Never say that again!</p>

63

<p>also kelly, I agree about essays. If you tell applicants what to write, with many specific examples, they will write it.</p>

64

<p>

I went to Brown admitted students day last year and they closed with a group of guys doing a cappella, wiggling and hooting and rolling their eyes.</p>

<p>I did not go to Brown.</p>

65

<p>I don’t particularly care for a cappella, either. It was pushed on us VERY hard during orientation, but after that subsided. I suppose they were just trying to recruit freshmen. Once you’re in an a cappella group, though, it tends to take over your life (well, if you’re in the good ones - the bubs, jills, or mates).</p>

66

<p>I’m the parent of a jr. We’re visiting many colleges this spring, including Tufts. The “quirky” label was initially appealing, but I think it’s just a marketing hook. Quirky is rather in vogue these days. My son and most of his 'smart" high achieving friends like to think of themselves as quirky. In later years, many of them will probably be diagnosed with OCD. Frankly, I am already growing weary of the marketing hype of the upper and upper middle tier schools. Ready to enroll my boy in the closest state school and then he’ll have money for grad school.</p>

67

<p>I’m curious - for those of you who are Tufts students - if any of you were present for the following conversation: [Editorial</a> | Too cool for school - Tufts Daily - Tufts University](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/editorial-too-cool-for-school-1.2704551#.T0ept1ymiHT]Editorial”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/editorial-too-cool-for-school-1.2704551#.T0ept1ymiHT)</p>

<p>I understand the conversation was a heated one, and I’m curious about first hand impressions.</p>

68

<p>As a Tufts alum, I was frankly happy that Tufts was not spending in an all out media blitz like some schools (UChicago comes to mind) to beef up the applicant numbers. My D is applying this year and we used to joke every time we received yet another tidbit of school info or glossy brochure from these schools. It became such a turnoff that she wound up not applying to those schools. The drop in number of applicants at Tufts does not worry me as next year’s applicants may take heart and think there is better opportunity for admission with less competition and thus bring it back up. </p>

<p>Initially, having heard of some of the optional essay questions Tufts was posing, I thought, that’s pretty neat. Those seem like creative ways to express yourself in a nonthreatening manner. But as I read through these posts, I also saw how it could start attracting unidimensional students with one or two “quirky” traits and not much else to add to a student body. Weeded out are the well rounded students who could contribute to a broader range of school needs (ie multiple sports, clubs, etc). Perhaps Tufts should re-evaluate trying so hard to stand apart from other schools in the way they ask applicants questions. Mixing it up every few years might be of value.</p>

69

<p>

</p>

<p>As the parent of a Hispanic high school junior who is thinking of applying to Tufts, the low diversity levels could be a matter of concern. Are you saying that the use of terms such as nerdy and quirky are keeping URMs from applying?</p>

70

<p>For what it’s worth… I read the Tufts Daily article and find the whole conversation quite interesting. My athletic son, who is social in school, capt of his team, accepted by jocks as a cool guy while also known as a smart kid in his classes, gravitated toward schools that have a come-as-you-are attitude. He loved the nerdy side essay because he could talk about something he really doesn’t admit to others. My take is that he has felt like a closet geek his whole life. This essay allowed him to express a rather unconventional aspect about himself in an open and encouraged way. </p>

<p>My S loved Tufts tour because the tour guide was refreshingly comfortable and not just another pretty face to 25 visiting parents with their kids. BC’s tour was completely different, folks. It was some of the sameness that his hi school has.</p>

<p>What I learned is that I thought my son would LOVE BC because of its sports heritage, it’s familial style of campus, the philosophy of students BUT I was completely wrong… He loved Tufts for it’s BOTH/AND philosophy and practice. What is being promoted, and perhaps over marketed, is Tufts can be home to athletes AND intellectuals, artists and scientists, burlesque dance clubbers AND math wizard, musician/rappers AND Pokemon masters (which is what my son is!). It is the kind of place that does not foster either/or but both/and. Be whoever you are… It is safe to “be” at Tufts.</p>

<p>Maybe there is too much emphasis on nerdy, but how many of you feel like a nerd in some way? Clearly I am currently a CC nerd… And I embrace it! Tufts is a total long shot for my S, but he would completely fit in because of the both/and attitude.</p>

71

<p>

</p>

<p>My S is a B+ student (3.5 GPA), has decent standardized test scores and little chance of getting into a top school, such as Tufts. There are mitigating reasons for that B+ average, so his most obvious matches are schools such as TX A&M and Northeastern. Tufts would be a reach. Even so, he has received mail from Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Duke, Harvey Mudd, Rice, Swarthmore, Carleton, Williams, Macalester, CMU, RIT, Rochester to name a few. By the way, we have so far, not received anything from Chicago. if my S was a straight A student, I am not sure I would advise him to close the door on schools (such as these) that write to him. Also, your D knows about Tufts since you are an Alum. However, there can be kids in other states who do not know of Tufts, especially, kids with parents that are immigrants or who did not attend top schools, such as us. Sure, everyone knows about HYP, Stanford and MIT. However, not everyone knows about the other schools. So, I don’t know if it such a good thing to not mail something to kids with some potential.</p>

72

<p>@perazziman: a few judiciously sent items of information I have absolutely no qualms about as it does a service like you mentioned. We were receiving items almost weekly from some of these schools which seemed excessive and fairly wasteful.</p>

<p>[College</a> Applications Continue to Increase. When Is Enough Enough? - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/education/edlife/07HOOVER-t.html]College”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/education/edlife/07HOOVER-t.html) had some interesting thoughts.</p>

73

<p>^NK5252, I know what you mean. It does not take long before these pressures generate news stories like this:</p>

<p>[Clarement</a> McKenna SAT Scores: Claremont McKenna College Admits Inflating Students’ SAT Scores - ktla.com](<a href=“http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-claremont-mckenna-sat-scores,0,2370107.story]Clarement”>http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-claremont-mckenna-sat-scores,0,2370107.story)</p>

74

<p>Originally posted by just<em>the</em>facts
“The admissions department can go on and on about the benefits of their “holistic” review of applicants and desire to assemble an interesting and diverse class… but the university still ends up with a remarkably affluent and economically homogeneous student body year after year (historically, Tufts has one of the smallest percentages of students receiving financial aid when compared with other highly-selective institutions in the country).”</p>

<p>Originally posted by perazziman
As the parent of a Hispanic high school junior who is thinking of applying to Tufts, the low diversity levels could be a matter of concern. Are you saying that the use of terms such as nerdy and quirky are keeping URMs from applying?</p>

<hr>

<p>No, that’s not really what I am saying.</p>

<p>I am saying that the emphasis on attracting quirky/nerdy students by the admissions department is misguided because it reinforces an image of immaturity, frivolity, and silliness when the university should be promoting experience, readiness, focus, and rigor in this abysmal economy. I am saying that more and more potential students (including URMs) are not, and will not, be willing to invest in an (unjustifiably?) high-priced college education (even at a school as prestigious as Tufts) without the expectation that a degree from such institution will result in a commensurate payoff. The days of employers simply handing jobs to ostensibly “well rounded” graduates of a superficially elite college or university are long over. </p>

<p>I’m familiar enough with Tufts to state that it is neither a nursery school nor a “fabulous” playground for eccentric, out-of-the-mainstream students. It is a rigorous institution filled, for the most part, with extremely intelligent students who are motivated to succeed and do well. If Tufts graduates are going to have to compete against similar academically qualified individuals coming out of Ivy league and upper-tier NESCAC institutions, as well as against graduates from schools with strong experiential learning programs (i.e., Northeastern, Northwestern, RIT, many other engineering schools), these achievers should be lauded by Tufts for their drive, focus, and smarts, not their interest (however well-intentioned) in Pokemon, World of Warcraft, and medieval catapult building. </p>

<p>My message to Tufts admissions is this: get serious. The quirky, nerdy, “fabulous” image is stale, played, and off-putting to many high-achieving students and parents who are looking for a more mature, prestigious (not elitist) brand. Promote Tufts as a cool place to learn and succeed… not a cool place to be un-cool. </p>

<p>That’s my point and my two cents worth. And I stand behind it 100%.</p>

75

<p>I agree that the “quirky nerd” image can be perceived as “weird” and a negative to many 16-17 year olds (and even some adults, hopefully not the hiring kind). Although HS kids may enjoy watching the Big Bang Theory, I doubt they see themselves or want their potential classmates belonging in the cast. </p>

<p>My youngest child attends Tufts. During her intial visit to the campus/info session, she seemed to connect with the global aspect of a Tufts education. Strong academics, size, location, small classes and choice of majors offered were positives as well. Tufts students were active, interesting, accepting of others, interested, even passionate, and most were doing something with their lives. No one seemed content to just get by. Students seemed active in clubs, volunteer activities, jobs, research, and/or internships. It seemed all a bit overwhelming but exciting too (like her busy HS schedule as a 3 sport athlete with lots of ECs and a tough curriculum). Academically, the students were smart and self motivated, yet not competitive with one another, and nonpretentious. Arrogance we saw elsewhere wasn’t evident at Tufts.</p>

<p>Neither of my older kids considered Tufts, even though they had strong stats and they liked the Boston area. I grew up in NJ and my husband is from western MA and neither of us was familar with Tufts. Can’t explain why. Don’t know. I can’t remember ever receiving any Tufts catalogs in the mail. </p>

<p>So I agree that Tufts might benefit from more publicity, if it increases students’ awareness of Tufts’ strengths (strong academics and faculty, smart, passionate students, holistic admisssions, Boston location). Leaning toward a “smart, independent, uniquely talented, passionate, and involved” student image might be better received than the quirky nerd image. Having Tufts on InsideCollege’s List of “Schools for a Socially Awkward Student” isn’t helping Tufts image though.</p>

76

<p>To support what Jerzgrlmom and Just the Facts are saying: what attracted me to Tufts was my visit. My tour guide had studied abroad in the Middle East, interned with a film company, was taking two languages and acted in a play at Tufts–and that’s what I remember but she had done a million other things. She was attractive and talked about hanging out in Boston. And everyone on stage that day gave off a similar vibe. They talked about what they were DOING, and those things were substantive academic, artistic and socially engaged activities==EPICC, internships through the Ex College, scientific research, study abroad. They were all really intelligent but NORMAL (the intellectualism was in contrast to another college I had visited that day) No one talked about weird hobbies or being a nerd. The admissions person who spoke to us emphasized the academic and extracurricular activities at Tufts and the extreme selectivity of the process. I was blown away and my perception that this is a dynamic, intellectual place that is also fun and relaxed. The reality is so much better than the manufactured messaging the adcom does on its site. The warm fuzzy we’re all just a bunch of offbeat teens reading applications is condescending and misses an opportunity to communicate what the school and the community is really about. I think in an effort to be accessible–which I get in theory–it talks down to applicants. And the fact that a few insecure high school students find that comforting does not mean its an effective approach. As one of the posters said earlier the people who post gushing messages on Facebook and on the admissions site are usually a little off. Most people would never do that so don’t take that for evidence of success.</p>

77

<p>On a side note, and this is not in the hands of adcom but up to Tufts students, if you want to help your school give it better grades on College *******. People take that stuff seriously. Don’t leave it in the hands of the haters.</p>

78

<p>I continue to agree with you, smartgrad. We also had a very dynamic tour guide and, more than that, I remember being blown away by the four students who spoke at accepted students day: two very poised women, a graduating drama major who was a spell-binding speaker who described this pretty wild idea that he had made into a short film, which had just won an award or been accepted for release (can’t quite remember the details) followed by a junior engineering student. When that student got to the podium and began to set up his power point presentation, I wondered what Tufts was thinking in having this guy follow the drama major, but he was the best of all: he had started his own alternative energy company that was up and running and he was captivating, amusing and frankly, had I been a high school student, a little intimidating. Not a nerd among them.</p>

<p>As I said before, I have for some time been irked by the pushing of the quirky label. I believe that Tufts has to be very careful how it defines itself, particularly in view of the fact that it can easily be overshadowed by Harvard and MIT, and Larry Bacow last spring gave an excellent interview to the Boston Globe in which he discussed how Tufts has flown under the radar because it really has failed to brand itself successfully. I don’t think quirky/nerdy is the way to go (I don’t see any evidence that MIT is overtly advertising its geekiness). Tufts is now very hard to get into and the students are very bright and talented, and I worry that employers who readily recruit at Harvard and MIT don’t quite realize how great the Tufts students are, so having the school itself define them as bright but perhaps a little weird does not advance the cause.</p>

<p>Frankly, choosing any one label would be a mistake. I think that one of the real assets of Tufts is that it’s small enough to provide a top-notch education while large enough to accommodate a large variety of personality types. Our daughter only looked at Nescac schools because she thought it was the perfect conference in which to continue her sport, and within this conference she was most drawn to Tufts, in part, because of its larger size and the more diverse student body that that larger size can provide. Anyone can find his/her niche.</p>

<p>The one point where I do disagree with you, though, is regarding the application supplement. I think it’s nice for kids to have the option to be represented by more than the hard numbers and Dan repeatedly has said that the optional essay is indeed optional and students contributing to this forum have said that they were accepted without submitting that essay. Also, we both agree that the Tufts student body is wonderful, very bright but unpretentious, and maybe that is due in no small part to the adcom’s ability to identify those students from their essays (or maybe it’s just self-selection). </p>

<p>OK, my last word on this.</p>

79

<p>Momiac, I totally agree that Tufts should have a supplement. My suggestion was simply that the one essay–the optional one–should be dropped. That would still leave several other essays. Two or three essays on top of common ap is already a lot. Just hated to see Tufts lose good candidates because people think it has one of the hardest applications out there.</p>

80

<p>I know, smartgrad. A lot of people in my school laughed at my desire to apply to Tufts because they said that the application required ‘more thought than an Ivy League application’ (direct quote). </p>

<p>Seriously, people, what distinguishes Tufts IS their willingness to read what applicants have to say beyond the Common App–and their essays REALLY make you learn more about yourself in the process. It was pretty fulfilling for me!</p>