Jumbo Parents

<p>My son is applying Early Decision for Class of 2017. He is a recruited athlete and our family is definitely in a high-need, low-EFC situation. The Coach wants him to apply ED. Of course there are no athletic scholarships in D3, and no merit aid available, so we will be very dependent upon whatever need-based grant aid we can get. He really loves the school, so from that perspective ED makes sense. We hear the normal warnings regarding financial aid being more risky in ED, but it seems like a judgment call and quite dependent upon the specific’s school’s track record of need-based aid. Tufts claims to “meet 100% of need”, and within that we may be required to take up to $5K in subsidized loans per year. Has anybody had any direct experience with ED, financial aid and grants vs loans at Tufts? Thanks</p>

<p>Bumping this up for new ED parents and to check in with the old gang!</p>

<p>D2 finished strong for her first semester, although Tufts does seem slower than most schools in posting grades.</p>

<p>D1 also had a good semester. She successfully signed a lease for a senior year apartment and since she is abroad next semester has officially moved out of the dorms forever. For those who have not been through it yet the off-campus apartment scramble can be a challenge. Good apartments are usually rented by the first people to show up, and that means a lot of time scanning postings. It all happens in Sep - Oct although most leases start in June. Interesting sign of the times is that neither D2, nor any of her roomates thought to bring a checkbook when they went to sign the lease. They are so used to electronic money.</p>

<p>Hope everyone had a good first term and is enjoying having DCs home for the holidays.</p>

<p>To follow up on my earlier post, our son was accepted and we received the preliminary notice of the aid award about 2 weeks ago. Tufts really came thru with a very generous offer of grant aid with no loans required for the first year (of course due to our fairly precarious financial situation). The purpose of my original post was concern that we felt compelled to apply ED in order to guarantee the athletic dept support for our son’s application, but were warned heavily by consultants and friends that doing so would jeopardize our ability to get a strong aid package or to negotiate with any leverage if needed. The general wisdom seems to be that you will get lowballed on aid if you apply ED. Tufts official position from both Admissions and Financial Aid offices was that they evaluate an application and a family’s financial need the same whether applying ED of RD. The latter certainly seemed to be the case for us. We are thrilled with the aid offered, and also very pleased to have the process decided early. Go Jumbos!</p>

<p>How does it work for freshman getting dorms for next year. When and how does that happen. According to my son he’s got a bad lottery number. What if he wants to do a suite style with bunch of kids next year? How does the lottery num come into play? Does the bad number definately mean that you need to live off campus junior and senior year?
My other question is: does it make sense to get an all you can eat plan for next year or is it better to get lower option so that he can use other eateries on campus?</p>

<p>@momworried</p>

<p>The lottery numbers vary by year and I believe are somewhat reciprocal. So a bad number sophomore year may mean a great number senior year. The numbers get averaged so a bad number may make your DS a less attractive member of a group going for one on the big suites, but if he has a group of friends it may average out fine and not matter. </p>

<p>Most kids seem to prefer living off campus Junior/Senior year. There are tons of apartments right around campus, some that get passed down to friends from year to year. Ironically the apartment D1 rented for next year is the same apartment her cousin lived in when he was an undergraduate close to 15 years ago. It is closer to the academic quad than her dorm this year.</p>

<p>In terms of meal plans - my girls always go for the minimum…but then they are girls. College age boys seem to need massive quantities of food - so it may be different. It also varies if they are living in a place with a kitchen, or have morning classes so get up for breakfast. He will probably have a good idea of how many meals per week he eats in the dining hall.</p>

<p>I got screwed with a bad sophomore year lottery number. I had good numbers for junior and senior years but wound up living off campus with friends anyways as that’s typically a more fun option.</p>

<p>As far as a meal plan, I was on unlimited soph year, too, but I was on a sports team, so I needed a lot of food and ate most meals with the team anyways. I also took advantage of using meals at Hodgdon and got a lot of snacks.
If your son will eat most meals at the dining hall than unlimited is worth it. On the other meal plans it makes sense to only get enough meals for dinner and then use Jumbocash on other meals (either at Carm/Dewick or elsewhere). For junior year and fall of senior year I was on the 80 plan and only went to the dining hall after practice for dinner. Spring of senior year I was on the 40.</p>

<p>@2012 Mom, with all your experience with Tufts can you post or direct this 2017 parent to where some good adice exists:Examples:</p>

<ol>
<li>What is the best form of shuttle transportation from Logan?</li>
<li>Food options.</li>
<li>Dorm options and preferences. What do you recommend for dorms?</li>
<li>What to do</li>
<li>What not to do</li>
</ol>

<p>C3 is a recruitied athlete and we are looking forward to becoming a Jumbo family,</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Any parents of Jumbos in grad school?</p>

<p>2014 parent with a kid doing a junior year abroad. My answers to the questions above:

  1. Don’t know my son takes the train to south station and then the T to campus.
  2. He’s always done a full meal plan, he likes the food.
  3. The corner rooms on the top floor of South stink - he got stuck in one as a sophomore. No head room on one side of the room made it a very unfair double. He had a much nicer double room as a freshman. Miller had better lounge spaces on the floors.
  4. He took EPIIC as a freshman and did well, but in retrospect thinks it would have been better to wait a year or two as he ended up with close friends from EPIIC that graduated and he felt it prevented him from bonding with freshman on the floor because he was so busy. He’s seriously considering taking EPIIC again as a senior because he says it’s a good way to make contacts for internships and jobs and the subject next year is an area of interest.
  5. Be aware that International Relations is surprisingly unfriendly about giving any credit of courses taken on a junior year abroad. It’s really reducing my kids options - especially since he’s spending the whole year abroad.</p>

<p>Welcome to Jumbo land IvyisGreen. I will add my two cents to mathmom’s great reply and hope that some of the others will follow suit.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>If there is not too much baggage or too much of a time crunch most kids take the T - blue line to red line to Davis then the Joey (Tufts shuttle) to campus. Otherwise it is a cab ride. Tufts does run shuttle buses at vacation times.</p></li>
<li><p>Freshman year is required full meal plan. My junior D dropped down significantly starting sophomore year. There are two dining halls on campus (one uphill, one down) and a snack bar where they can use their meals. My Ds are very happy with the food including my vegetarian. Lots of great inexpensive places around campus, particularly in Davis, a few they can use meal points at. </p></li>
<li><p>For freshman you do not get to pick dorms, just all frosh or mixed, and an option for healthy living. My D1 was in mixed (South), had a great time and liked having upperclassmen (mostly sophomores) to ask advice. My D2 is all frosh and her floor is very social and has become very much a friend group. Both of my Ds chose not to find a roommate on FB, etc. They liked not having the pressure to be friends. It has worked out well for both.</p></li>
<li><p>Much of the social life at Tufts revolves around activities. Sports teams, performance groups, religious, academic or social action clubs often socialize together. It is a very open and welcoming place, but following a specific passion helps students find a community and support network. Both of my Ds really enjoyed their freshman seminar groups, and both chose student led classes from the X college. It was another way to build a community of friends.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t over commit. My D2 dropped the 5th class she initially signed up for freshman fall. ECs like sports take a lot of time, and the academic workload is significant. Remember that college sports means a lot of long distance travel - Nescac goes all over New England and it means many weekends away. Over committing makes it not fun. Also use raptor and rate my professor to get a sense of classes and timing and build a balanced schedule.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Welcome IvyIsGreen!

  1. Same-I offered to pay for cab for my D to bring her giant suitcase, violin, backpack to airport and she said no- and took the T and bus. Super fast-cost $2.00- easy peasy.
  2. No choice in freshman dorm. My D did choose Healthy Living and LOVES it as kids choose to live there who do not want to “party”. Lots of board game nights and movies in common room, going in to Boston; tight knit big group formed there.
  3. Explore Boston and Davis a lot! Say yes to new activities and friends! Also, if you get an on campus job, work in the library as you can do your homework there.
  4. Take fun classes and don’t over commit to academics. Need adjustment time in your first semester.</p>

<p>From the airport, you catch a silverline bus (free) which takes you to a stop where you get on the train (T), then the campus Joey (transfer lines as indicated above) … Using the T line costs $2, a taxi costs $40. The students get used to it. Also, as a parent, I have travelled this route and it is managable. (the map of the T is pretty self explanatory regarding where to switch trains).</p>

<p>When 2015 D1 has to take a taxi (tight timing or getting to/from the airport especially early/late) she’s had good luck finding people to share the ride. </p>

<p>I’ll echo 1012mom’s suggestion to use ratemyprofessor for help in building a schedule. When in doubt, take the professor people rave about, regardless of what they’re teaching! D1 filled a blank spot in her frosh schedule this way, taking a subject in which she had no previous interest. That ended up becoming her major, and that prof ended up becoming her advisor.</p>

<p>I’m officially a Jumbo parent. S sent in his deposit this morning. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the information being posted by current parents. It is helpful for those new to the family.</p>

<p>Thanks for the help all!</p>

<p>Bumping for the new 2017 Jumbo parents.</p>

<p>So glad to be a parent of a newborn baby Jumbo, my DD, accepted ED to the Class of 2017!</p>

<p>Let me direct any and everyone to Dan Grayson’s “gracious” Tufts Admissions Blog post from yesterday in which he salutes particular applicants who made impressions on him. What’s striking is that these applicants were not all accepted students. How reassuring and heartening to have an ADCOM personalize the process in such a way. But then, his post is in keeping with every encounter and interaction my D has had with Tufts so far.</p>

<p>Looking forward to Jumbo Days!</p>

<p>Thank you Tufts for the tremendous communication through what has been a very difficult day in Boston, Cambridge and Watertown. So glad that the Tufts Marathon runners and supporters had no major injuries. Prayers and sympathy for the others who were not so lucky.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any experience with allcollegestorage.com or comments on any other storage companies? Allcollegestorage.com seems to have the best prices. Collegeboxes.com is another.Thanks.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if there is club swimming at Tufts?</p>

<p>Or can anyone tell me what’s the schedule (how often the practice, meets) for the varsity men swimming team?</p>