<p>i just got in off the waitlist at tufts. however, i've sent my deposit into wesleyan. now i have a few days to make this decision. please help me out here, can anyone compare/contrast the two? i'm a prospective english major going premed. any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I live 10 minutes' drive from Tufts and have a lot of friends there. It felt too close to home for me so I didn't apply, but I think the world of the school...great social scene, really strong programs. I've always said it's where I'd go if I didn't live here.
If you want pre-med, Tufts' program is definitely taken more seriously, especially for grad schools, jobs etc. People tend to associate Wesleyan with humanities majors, and those are also their strongest departments.<br>
Tufts is also slightly more urban and has tremendously easy access to Boston, Cambridge - particularly convenient for a premed, what with the great hospitals and facilities in the area for research and internships and stuff (Tufts has a really great health plan also, thought I'd throw that in)
....Both are great.</p>
<p>Err, I'd disagree with the pre-med thing being better at Tufts. Humanities majors really aren't our strongest departments - we're basically as awesome at sciences as you can get, for a liberal arts school. Especially the past few years, Wes has been putting a greater and greater emphasis on it. Tons of opportunities for undergrad research, great facilities, fantastic professors, and a fairly large science major population for this type of school. Plus, we also have great admission rates into med schools.</p>
<p>Wesleyan is basically amazing for "well-rounded" kids who aren't just preprofessionals interested in one subject. In fact, that's basically the definition of what Wesleyan isn't. Thus, doing an English major and being pre-med is not only possible, but highly respected and not THAT uncommon.</p>
<p>Also, I think in terms of atmosphere, more people chose Wesleyan because they actively didn't want to go to just another Ivy (except maybe Brown, they're pretty much hippies too :P), whereas I feel that isn't necessarily the case at Tufts - it's probably more similar academically and socially and everythingly to an Ivy than Wes is, but also doesn't have as much of a distinctive character. Which is a nice feature to have. Seriously.</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to both of these as a transfer. She chose Wes, despite the fact that she had wanted a city school originally, because she liked the feel of the students better. Tufts had a more pre-professional feel (not a bad thing but not what she was looking for.) She is also very politically oriented, and liked the activism of Wes. But both are excellent academically; I agree with Madjoy that Wes has a very strong science reputation, so pre-med there is fine. It really comes down to fit.</p>
<p>I'm also going to have to disagree that Wesleyan is only known for humanities. If you look at where recent science and math graduates have gone, either for grad school or the job market, it's clear that Wesleyan has at least some cachet with employers and grad schools in the sciences.</p>
<p>I swear to you, in the four years spent as an undergraduate at Wesleyan, I never heard anyone, ANYONE utter the following words:</p>
<p>"God, if only I'd gone to Tufts!"</p>
<p>Not once. ;)</p>
<p>Seriously, the kind of lifestyle you would be giving up by foregoing Tufts is the kind of life any grad student in any big city in the country would lead after he's gotten his B.A. at a really good LAC.: binge studying followed by binge drinking in an off-campus bar. If you can't wait to do that -- by all means -- go to Tufts.</p>
<p>OTOH, if you want one of the five or six great liberal arts college experiences in the country --go to Wesleyan.</p>
<p>Both excellent, but these two schools are as different as it gets: big city vs. small town, research university vs. liberal arts college, mostly preppie atmosphere vs. laid-back, comprehensive approach. Are you even sure of what you want?</p>
<p>I've just done a quick review of the OP's post history and though I can make an argument that Tufts actually fits him better (for a variety of reasons) I have to say, I do find it odd how Tufts was not even on the radar scope until four days ago. This may be a case of loving the one that loved you last!</p>
<p>this is to dwincho and johnwesley:</p>
<p>tufts was high up on my list when i originally applied and i had done research on it. then decisions came and i had a bad experience getting waitlisted at 5 schools, including tufts. then wesleyan finally came through and i was beyond exhilirated. i went to visit and i found that i liked the campus, but it didn't completely stand out to me. however, i knew the academics were really good and that it was just a fun experience overall, so i started looking more into it and really liked the idea of spending four years there.</p>
<p>tufts came through and i remembered all the research i had done and realized that i really wanted a city feel, yet have some kind of campus. though wesleyan is close to new haven and hartford, i felt that tufts is a better match because i really like boston a lot and tufts has a beautiful campus as well. furthermore, i'm doing an english major + pre-med and i'm well aware of the fact that wesleyan can provide this for me masterfully, but i just feel more at home at tufts doing it.</p>
<p>i suppose after i was waitlisted at those 5 schools, i just sort of gave up on them (though i did send letters of continued interest in case something came through). getting off the waitlist made me remember how much i really did like tufts when i originally applied and that's the reason why i picked it over wesleyan.</p>
<p>i don't mean any offense to wesleyan because it really is a great school and by all means, i'm really happy that i was offered admission. thank you all for your help with this question and with all my previous questions on this board as i was getting to know wesleyan better. best of luck to all of you.</p>