<p>I am just wondering because I've seen many people speak highly of Tufts, but I've never heard it actually mentioned with the elites.</p>
<p>I think this is a very interesting question, and something that I have better understood after two years @ Tufts. Since I am from the Boston area, where Tufts is very well known and respected, I originally was very impressed with its prestigiousness...yet I guess I never really thought about it too much since I knew Tufts was simply a great school where I would be happy and did not really care how "elite" it was... </p>
<p>Yet, after meeting so many other students who are from all over the world...and realizing how accomplished we are as a student body and institution as a whole, I would confidently say that Tufts is among the elite. I am not trying to be pompous and claim that it is the most elite college in the world, but it is definitely underrated and I would compare it to schools like Northwestern, Emory, and WashU. </p>
<p>Yet, in general, I wouldn't worry too much about this question. Don't let the perceived prestigiousness of others lead you one way or another...because personally I think that when you are looking at a group of top schools as a whole they all offer an incredible education and it is all about finding a school that you will be happy at.</p>
<p>While I cannot speak for an entire city and what it thinks is prestigious, here is my OPINION of how Bostonians think of its local schools (as evidenced through local newspapers, press, average joes, etc.) :</p>
<p>1.) Harvard
2.) MIT
3.) BC
4.) Wellesley
5.) BU
6.) UMass
7.) Northeastern</p>
<p>I really don't think Tufts is on the most Boston people's radar screen at all. Just too small of a school that its not really in your average resident's conciousness. It is a very good school though and deserves better. I'm sure it is more highly respected by academics and grad schools, which is a good thing of course.</p>
<p>where did you get this info rich?</p>
<p>Hey Rich, are you the same Rich that was rejected by Tufts and is currently at Northeastern?</p>
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<p>Well, I haven't really heard much abotu Tufts as an elite, but when I do hear something about it, which is rarely, it's always excellent. I was just curious as to what is this college all about. :) Gojumbos, I think you're very much right about it's choosing the elite college that you like, because they're all excellent and elite in their own way :)</p>
<p>haha no one listen to rich, he's definitely just a tufts basher (prob a reject who loved the school to death and now thinks that by posting these things he is getting some sort of revenge)</p>
<p>As someone from Boston, Tufts is definitely well known and respected. I didn't want to sound pompous in my original response, but after reading Rich's post I think it is important to add that many of my friends chose Tufts over schools like Dartmouth, Columbia, WashU, Stanford, Duke, Cornell, Georgetown, Williams, Brown, and yes, even Harvard...and it had nothing to do with money. Tufts is definitely an amazing school, it is just that in some areas of the country/world, it is still a best kept secret. Definitely not unheard of though as Rich inferred.</p>
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<p>The cross-admit/matriculation rates for Tufts over Harvard is low - that being said, it should be noted that those students DO exist :)</p>
<p>In all honesty, as someone who is very much looking forward to going to Tufts, I always get a little discouraged when someone asks me where I'm off to next year, I say "Tufts University? In Boston?" and there's no recognition on their face. I then feel compelled to say "But it's a REALLY good school, I swear! It's like right up there with Northwestern and Emory! I know kids who chose Tufts over Duke and Haverford and Columbia!"</p>
<p>lol, of course, sometimes I go into this crazed defense of my future alma mater, and the person is like "...I know. I've heard a lot about it." or "Yeah, my niece goes there, she loves it" or "Yeah...it's probably the best school in Boston after Harvard and MIT."</p>
<p>I've found that high school freshmen aren't likely to have heard of it - but professional adults have all heard of it. I'm sure they've all met someone in their field that graduated from Tufts. And all of these adults have had nothing but compliments for the school :-D</p>
<p>rich12345, I don't know where you live, but I live in MA, 45 minutes from Boston. I go there nearly every weekend to visit family and have spent several summers there. I don't know how you can possibly say that Tufts is not on the "radar screen" in Boston. How do you explain why so many of Tuft's students come from MA? That statement of yours is simply ridiculous.</p>
<p>As far as Tufts' reputation goes, Tufts is a top school. However, it often draws comparisons with Harvard and MIT since they are so close (they are all on the same subway line). The more pressing reason is that Tufts has a generally strong reputation, and, as a result, many of the students who apply to Tufts also apply to Harvard, MIT, and the rest of the Ivies.</p>
<p>As far as your other comment goes (It is a very good school though and deserves better. I'm sure it is more highly respected by academics and grad schools, which is a good thing of course.), I agree 100%. As far as undergraduate reputation goes, Tufts doesn't do enough to advertise itself enough, which hurts Tufts reputation.</p>
<p>Y'all should ignore Rich - just scroll through his previous posts (click on name, then "Find other posts") to see that almost every single one of them bashes Tufts, and the ones that don't are bashing small engineering schools. </p>
<p>Arguing (as a Bostonian!) against what he is saying is like trying to explain why the moon is not made of green cheese.</p>
<p>As someone who grew up on the North Shore of Massachusetts, I most definitely knew that Tufts had a fantastic academic reputation. That's why it surprised me that where I live now, in Northern NJ, Tufts doesn't have much name recognition among high schoolers or their parents until they began the college search and application process sophomore/junior year.</p>
<p>I think some of this has to do with the fact that many schools become known first for their Division I sports teams, like Syracuse, Purdue, Northwestern, Auburn, Rice, and Duke. My understanding is that when a school's team does well, its name recognition and number of applications soar. Tufts doesn't benefit from any of that "branding" (nor do some other GREAT schools without Division I sports... Pomona, Washington U at St. Louis, and Emory come to mind). </p>
<p>But tell your family doctor, dentist or vet that you're attending Tufts and I'll betcha they not only know of it, they'll say something like "great school!" That's because Tufts is known nationally among the elite as a training ground for the professional medical sciences. </p>
<p>Need more bragging rights? OK, here's some more: Tufts see-saws with Georgetown annually as the #1 or #2 school nationally for International Relations. Tufts was also cited by a major magazine (help! I can never remember the name of the magazine!!) as the #1 school for study abroad. </p>
<p>So, don't sweat it if your next-door neighbor hasn't heard of Tufts. They'll be glad you went there when you are performing their total hip replacement, or are representing us as our US ambassador to Israel, or can speak French fluently when you perform pro-bono dentistry work in Haiti. :)</p>
<p>Congrats to all those who will be matriculating. GREAT school! :)</p>
<p>Great post!!!! You nailed it! :)</p>
<br>
<p>Tufts was also cited by a major magazine (help! I can never remember the name of the magazine!!) as the #1 school for study abroad. </p>
<br>
<p>That would be the Newsweek.</p>
<p>Yes, I absolutely LOVED that post, jjsmom. It made me so proud to be joining the community all over again lol.</p>
<p>I mean, because I'm such an overachieving loser, I sometimes forget that Tufts really IS snapworthy. For example, I was writing my wait-list letter to Dartmouth, and accidentally left the copy in my English classroom's printer. Later my teacher - a wonderful man who retired this year after 40 years - caught up with me and gave it to me, saying that he went through it and found a typo. "But where are you going if not to Dartmouth?" he asked. I told him I had chosen Tufts - he looked at me as if I were insane before saying, "TUFTS?! Then why are you bothering with DARTMOUTH, jeez, Tufts is an amazing school! I think you'd be even happier there, Renee, in all honesty." Basically, like jjsmom said, Tufts is highly respected where it counts. And even though us overachieving losers kind of wish regular people would recognize what an achievement getting into Tufts is, it doesn't matter, because our future EMPLOYERS will recognize and appreciate it, and that's all that matters.</p>
<p>Tufts is well-known around Boston. However, we are in the shadow of Harvard and MIT; we need to use our education to learn how to present ourselves to employers, but simply having a Tufts degree won't necessarily benefit us in the way that a Harvard degree might. That's not to say Tufts isn't a good school, but it also doesn't mean Tufts has to be defended all the time. As for the relative amounts of knowledge gained for both of those degrees - that is debatable. </p>
<p>As for employers far away from New England, I don't know how many would 'recognize' Tufts. Rather, I think the challenge is to learn how to present yourself with the degree as an important asset to your individual skill set, rather than a foremost factor in pursuing employment.</p>
<p>this is true. but two more things.
1. I have spoken to lots of kids, not just Tufts kids - and we were talking about how, out of all the schools in Boston, the only one we'd REALLY want to go to is Tufts. i mean, Harvard got a resounding "EW! NO!" because my Harvard experiences have all been of a gloomy, condescending campus full of unfriendly people. (I KNOW THAT FRIENDLY HARVARD PEOPLE MUST EXIST, IT'S JUST MY EXPERIENCE lol). MIT lost points for lack of diversity, and an apparent surplus of socially retarded students, lol. BC? homogeneous. BU? No campus. Northeastern? "Why spend my college years WORKING? I have my whole life for that!" (And also no campus). Wellesley? "You seriously expect me to live in a place where thousands of menstrual cycles get in sync and EVERYONE IS PMS-ING AT THE SAME TIME?!" Basically, Tufts has the right blend of people, the right size, extremely bright and gifted people who don't In-Your-Face it nearly as much as, let's say, at Harvard, the benefit of a beautiful, safe suburban campus but a mere 5 minutes away from a thriving city, and an excellent reputation. I once heard it referred to as one of the best-kept secrets in education. And out of all the Boston schools, it's really the only one that I - and many people I've spoken to - would want to attend.</p>
<ol>
<li>I love how on Rich's list, Brandeis is nowhere to be found. It's not the BEST school, naturally, but I would say it's much better than UMASS, for example. He obviously has a skewed point of view.</li>
</ol>
<p>That's all for now :-D</p>
<p>After a while, I've come to realize that Tufts is one of those gem schools that are frequently overshadowed by Ivies and the like. I remember in April when everyone was like "omg I can't believe I got in despite Tufts Syndrome" (and yes I admit I might have said something likewise) because they underestimate the prestige and competitive applicant pool. It's definitely up there and it draws students from a very talented applicant pool.</p>
<p>Hey zant!!!! That's an excellent point, I must say - hearing some of the kids that they accepted at the Open House...I mean, even if these kids choose to go elsewhere, it just shows that the Tufts applicant pool is really strong. Esp. if these kids want to go to Tufts for, let's say, pre-med or IR, which are prob. Tufts' most famous programs.</p>
<p>zant, where are you going next year? Brown, was it?</p>
<p>No, Princeton</p>
<p>I think Tufts is pretty special among top schools in its focus on IR; the way they encourage traveling abroad, having more language requirements, etc.</p>