One possibility is that toward the end of the school year, lots of furniture goes up for sale on Craigs List. She can buy then try to re-sell it at the end of the summer… Some kids make money this way and others may lose less than the cost of renting.
There is a whole alternative economy associated with living off campus that can teach some life skills. Lessons learned can make the transition to the “real world” easier. As a parent, one just needs to make sure that the financial risk is such that failure doesn’t induce hardship. Launching a kid in NYC after graduation can be quite an experience - even if they lived off campus during college …
The cost of apartments varies. $725 is toward the low end. $900 is toward the middle. It can go above $1000. Somerville is becoming one of the hottest real estate markets in Mass, because of the easy subway access to Boston. The Medford side of campus can be cheaper because you are not competing as much with young professionals. If/when the subway extension to the Medford side of campus happens rents will jump up there as well. It is hard to know how good a deal you got without knowing the size, location and condition. The best values tend to get passed via word of mouth rather than hitting the “open market”.
@Mastadon Thank you for the wealth of info you bring to this thread! Has the administration given up on building more dormitories? Any sense of the recent history on this and future plans? I vaguely recall around a quarter or less of upperclass juniors and seniors are able to live on campus, which may not have been paid much attention to as we went through the admission process but looms larger now.
thank you for the information on rental costs and furniture. So, it looks like $900 isn’t out of line. We haven’t seen the place and truthfully, I don’t think D has seen inside…She was very happy to get a fall sublet with people she knows and likes. I guess we’re kind of rolling the dice by not having seen it. Its on Chetwynd which I think is a pretty nice neighborhood behind campus. The only problem is that while its furnished, we just found out that her summer sublet is unfurnished. I’ll tell her to look on cragslist and to ask around. She really only needs it for the summer.
Tufts is in the early stages of looking at more on-campus housing.
There have been four new dorms built since 1980. Latin Way, Hillside Apartments, South Hall (to be renamed Bernard Harleston Hall this fall) and Sophia Gordon. So there has been a gradual migration of students from off-campus to on-campus housing. Many students prefer to live off-campus housing due to the higher degree of independence, and for many years it was less expensive. With the on-going gentrification of Somerville and to a lesser extent Medford, there is a growing concern that off-campus prices will get too high. The Green Line extension project looks like it is moving forward again, so that will impact Medford property values.
To the best of my knowledge, every junior that wanted on-campus housing has been able to secure it, by going on the waitlist.
Yesterday’s commencement ceremony ended my days as a Jumbo parent. I hope others have found this thread useful. If you agree I ask that the newer parents think to bump it at pivotal times like when admissions are announced. Tufts has been a fantastic journey for my two daughters over the last six years. Thank you all for the company and advice along the way!
We were invited to a local reception for new Jumbos and their parents, hosted by “Tufts Parents Giving.” I admit that I’m a bit turned off by the fact that the parent organization references “giving” because I feel as if attending an event like this will mean I’m asked to donate money - and it’s already going to be quite challenging to pay the tuition in the first place! Can anyone tell me if this is truly the focus of this organization?
I would encourage both you and your new Jumbo to attend the reception. We live in Los Angeles and so did not attend Jumbo Days in the spring. Parents of a local sophomore hosted a very nice summer reception at a local yacht club, and it ended up being a really good opportunity for my daughter to meet other new Jumbos, as she was the only student from her high school attending that year. There were maybe a dozen or so students and parents at the event, and there was absolutely no pressure to give, despite the fact that it was also hosted by Tufts’ Parent Giving. I think of it as similar to a school’s Parent Association – parents participate at the level they wish to, or at no level at all. My daughter just finished her freshman year at Tufts and the meet and greet really lessened some of the nervousness about going so far away. One of the students she met at the event has become a very close friend, so our experience was worthwhile. As for giving, you will continue to receive notices of events and emails, regardless of whether you attend the reception or not. I would say that the Tufts’ Parent Giving association is pretty low-key compared to what I’ve heard can occur at other schools.
You are being invited to a regional event sponsored by the Tufts Parents Giving Program which is intended to “enhance the daily student experience”. It is a benefit of the Tufts experience that you should take advantage of - if it sounds interesting to you.
The event is intended as a community building activity, not a fund raising activity. It is analogous to being invited to a high school event sponsored by your high school’s Parent Teachers Association.
My son is a rising junior still on a wait list for housing, and not finding any off campus housing. He will study abroad in the spring. I am looking for advice on how/where to help him look for housing, as I am getting worried that Tufts won’t come through on the every junior most likely can get housing. He is overseas doing an internship, which has made it harder to look for housing. I do want to express my gratitude to tufts for the grant that he received to help cover the costs. It has been a wonderful experience.
@2018parent give a call to the housing office and see where he sits on the wait list. They generally get through it, and will be forthcoming about where he is on the list. I heard that this year many schools housing is impacted by some of the political and terrorist activity overseas. It took a while for some of the study abroad programs to finalize their lists, which backed up the housing list - i.e. how many kids would not be on campus this fall/spring. Hope it all turns out well for him.
I take it that the students can get into their dorm rooms before they take off for the wilderness trip, drop off their belongings, including valuables, and lock the door for the duration. Roommate is apparently in the same program, so the issue of somebody coming and going from the room is off the table. We are planning on moving in at least half of kid’s stuff on August 25, and the balance at Move-In Day. Does anybody have concerns or otherwise useful input about this plan?
Secondly, any experiences with using contacts for eyes during this trip? Planning on taking glasses, too, but don’t know whether it is even helpful to pack the contacts, without clean running water.
Any other advice on the TWO trip and packing for it? The list of “essentials” is pretty costly for such a short trip when we have not done any overnight backpacking in the past and multiple opportunities to use the stuff in the future is undetermined. Right down to the fabric of the underwear! Hmmm.
Can’t speak to the TWO trip because my kid did a different pre-O experience (don’t remember what it was called but they volunteered around Cambridge, Medford and Boston, and slept on the floor in a church in the sleeping bags they brought).
Regarding your plans for move- in: that’s essentially what we did and it worked out really well. We brought up around 90% of his stuff in pre-O and help set up his room that morning, and it made official move- in day so much easier. We were able to enjoy the convocation, lunch, and any other event they had planned bc all the sweaty work was already done. It was just a fun day for all of us.
Welcome to the Tufts family! It’s been a great experience so far for my kid, now entering junior year(!), and I wish your child the same.
My son did the two trip last year and had a fantastic experience. Really worth the cost in friendship and bonding with tufts more senior students We borrowed most of the trip stuff from a boyscout friend. It is very rustic so the material is somewhat important in case they get wet. We live far away(he traveled to campus alone) so he just threw what he brought into his room, locked the door an started the trip. We brought the rest on move in day and helped set up his room with a couple trips to Target.
My son had a Chase acct in high school bc that’s our bank in NY. But before he left for tufts, he opened an acct w Bank of America. At tufts, BoA is the most convenient bank bc there is an ATM on campus.
Excellent. Thanks for the info. That’s what my daughter’s research had led her to believe. I’m hoping they come on campus during Orientation or something - I somewhat recall the local bank doing that back in the dark ages when I went to college.
