<p>I know that Tufts recommends it's alumni Interview for the students who apply there but I was just wondering how much impact does it have on an applicant's application.</p>
<p>Let's say a student has mediocre SAT, let's say 1640, good gpa 3.85 and good class rank 10/297 kids, taken mostly Honors+ ap classes except sophomore year, ok recs and writes a good (average essay) but no optional essays. And in the interview he impressed the Interviewer and the interview thinks "Tufts will miss out if they don't accept that applicant" or "Tufts will be really benefited by having that student".</p>
<p>How much chance would you think the applicant has?(despite his low SAT and gpa)</p>
<p>Better than if he didn’t do the interview. If he were to have done the optional essay, then that might tip him over the edge, but since he didn’t I really cannot say. Why didn’t he do the optional essay?</p>
<p>I really don’t know. I am gonna ask him. I think he couldn’t handle it. I asked him and he told me that he didn’t do optional essays. He just did those 3 essays that are kinda requirement in order to apply to Tufts.</p>
<p>But I told him that he has no chance at all especially when he is white and his SAT is like no where close to what Tufts want.</p>
<p>I also told him that he should’ve applied to Brown. Brown tend to accept a lot of students with SATs under 1700 (about 10% of last year’s class had SAT under 1700.)</p>
<p>If his school is challenging, then 3.85 is a fine GPA. 1640 is fairly low, though. Doing the optional essay probably would’ve helped, but only so much. If he’s taken hard classes and wrote good essays and can show admissions that his SATs were a fluke, then that his chances might be a little better.</p>
<p>Also, if that’s true about Brown, I doubt they take kids with low SAT’s just for the hell of it. Most of those kids would probably be athletes or otherwise hooked, but I doubt that that’s true - do you have a link or something?</p>
<p>And I personally know a girl who was accepted from my school with 1620 SAT (not an athlete though) She was Asian and had like 5 Ap classes (AP English junior+senior, AP Spanish, AP Gov, Ap his) He didn’t even take Hon. Calc. She only took Hon. Pre-calc. She was in the student council, ranked #5 in her class. Our school was ranked as one of America’s top school by US news.</p>
<p>To hebrewhammer, but even if he wrote good essays do you think that with that SAT (1640) he stands any chance at Tufts? BTW, the kid is also a varsity soccer player but he didn’t submit a recommendation from the coach though. </p>
<p>Has Tufts ever admitted any student with that low SAT?</p>
<p>I am sure they have… as they don’t just plug in numbers, but… </p>
<p>I honestly feel that that person would have had to show up HUGE in some other way. Community service, extreme leadership, something. However, you never know whether it is where you live or what exactly you bring to the table that could tip the scales in your friends favor.</p>
<p>This said… even when my kid is well within or even above the 75% of accepted students, when you’re talking about the top 50 or so CLA’s, it’s a crapshoot no matter what the grades, scores. Some might have better odds, but in the end, they could easily be rejected and yet still get into some awesome schools.</p>
<p>Well said Modadunn. I just hope that I am one of those lucky kids who get accepted with low score. My SAT is really low. But I don’t think there is anything else I can do at this point of time except to pray to God and hope that a miracle happen (which I don’t think is possible) <strong>sigh</strong> I wanted to go there so bad.</p>
<p>sowmit… I honestly know how you feel. I had wanted to go to a school so badly and was rejected some 30 years ago… and I still remember it. My son had an ED school he loved and he too was rejected. But I am a firm believer in things work out fine in the end… if it’s not fine, it’s not the end.</p>
<p>Thanks MODADUNN for your kind words. I think your probably right (you have more experience of life than I do) but I feel like if I get accepted to Tufts that’s when things are gonna work out well for me. Let’s see what happens in the end. <strong>sigh</strong></p>
<p>I don’t think interviews can really make or break someone’s application…I think it can help, but I don’t think it can solely turn a decision one way or the other. Unless the interview reveals you’re some crazy sociopath, of course.</p>
<p>If it’s any consolation, when I visited Tufts, Dean Coffin said that they have accepted students who scored a 400 in a section so SATs aren’t everything?</p>
<p>Just to clarify–Dean Coffin mentioned that they had accepted a student who had scored a 400 in a section. To put the situation in context, he mentioned this right after he told us the general SAT ranges for Tufts applicants and a couple of people reacted in horror at how high they were. I wasn’t having a personal conversation with him over a cup of tea or something (though that’d be nice) so I have no idea about the other aspects of that person’s application. </p>
<p>Sorry, I just read my post over and I realize I may have given the impression that Coffin was telling us that TONS of people get accepted with 400 scores…not what I meant. The point is, there are always unique cases in which seemingly negative aspects of an application can be overlooked for whatever reason so don’t freak out solely over SAT scores…</p>
<p>Thank you ESGEE for clarifying the situation. I thought when you visited Tufts Dean Coffin had like a personal conversation with you and that’s when he told you that, but you are right that DEFINITELY would be nice. haha</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> I couldn’t fit in an interview. My interviewer and I actually had a misunderstanding… she waited at Panera Bread for 30 minutes while I was at home, completely unaware… and then I got an angry email.</p>
<p>the.pfenix-- Don’t worry about that. As long as the interviewer doesn’t report anything bad about you, I am pretty sure that it’s not gonna effect your decision at all. And if you get in, I think you should probably send her some candy… Haha.</p>
<p>i didn’t get offered an interview at all…i would’ve accepted one but they didn’t give me one…
i wasn’t sure WHY…i mean i live in jersey…it’s not like an obscure state like Utah or anything…</p>
But I don’t think there is anything else I can do at this point of time except to pray to God and hope that a miracle happen (which I don’t think is possible) <strong>sigh</strong> I wanted to go there so bad.</p>