My own, honest opinion of tufts

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
1

<p>Hello,
Let me preface this by saying I was a student at Tufts for two years before transferring out--some of you on here might even know me based on my user name. I have no other motives for writing this other than to hopefully help some of you younger kids out when you are chosing a college. </p>

<p>I believe Tufts is a poor choice for college for any student. Not only are most of the students I know that attend there very unhappy with the social life, the teachers I had were not worth what I was paying, and Tufts doesn't offer very much after you graduate that you can't get from somewhere else.</p>

<p>There are two types of students at any college....those who want to take their degree and enter the workforce, and those who want to take their degree and continue their studies. </p>

<p>For those who want to go straight to work, Tufts is a poor choice for the obvious reason that hardly anyone has ever heard of it. For my two years at Tufts people would always say "well the people who matter have heard of it!" Not only is that totally arrogant, implying that if you havent heard of a small private college outside of boston that you "dont matter", its also wrong. Where I live, near Atlanta, is one of the fastest growing job markets in the US right now. Check any financial news source on that one. However, absolutely no one I have met here has ever heard of Tufts. If they haven't heard of it, why would getting a degree from there help you get a job? The same goes for other areas outside of the northeast. Why not save your money and go to a school with a large, loyal alumni base, like a state school where you will save enough money on tuition to buy yourself your first home?</p>

<p>Another argument I kept hearing from people about why Tufts is awesome (because people at tufts have an inferiority complex about their school and always feel they need to talk about how great it is) is that it will help you get in to graduate school. This simply is not true. For instance, look at the universities which have sent kids to Harvard Law this year. (<a href="http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/colleges.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.law.harvard.edu/admissions/jd/colleges.php&lt;/a&gt;) Tufts holds its own with 9 students matriculating, but is eclipsed by schools such as Brandeis, Florida, NYU, UCLA, UNC, Michigan, and others who sent more. Coming from Tufts gives you no advantage over other applicants to competitive Grad schools. For a broader example of this, look at the Tufts pre-legal handbook (<a href="http://www.studentservices.tufts.edu/sspdf/PreLegalHandbook.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentservices.tufts.edu/sspdf/PreLegalHandbook.pdf&lt;/a&gt;) at the end of it there is a list of schools tufts alumni have attended along with their GPA and LSAT. If you look at the average GPA taken from Tufts and the average GPA for all students at these law schools (look on princeton review) they are almost exactly the same. For those of you who want to go on to med school, I spoke directly with the dean of admissions for the U Washington med school, one of the top in the nation, who told me "we look at your gpa, not what school it came from" Save yourself the money and go somewhere that you will have fun. Tufts is a very hard school and getting a decent GPa there will be much much harder than if you go elsewhere. It could actually hurt your chances at getting in to the graduate school you want. If you are smart enuogh to be admitted here, you are smart enough to do extremely well at other schools where you can take your 4.0 GPA and all the money you save and go to the grad school of your choice.</p>

<p>No matter what the smiling admissions people tell you, most people I know at Tufts would not make the same choice again. A few kids are genuinely happy, but most are just sticking it out. I am glad I am leaving, and good luck to those of you who are going. Feel free to challenge me or ask me more questions. I will tell you honest answers.
-Chris</p>

2

<p>For a pre-vet student, Tufts is the best school to attend. Tufts takes a lot of undergraduates into its veterinary school which just so happens to be one of the best in the entire country. They also have early decision into vet school in your sophomore year.</p>

<p>Also, some people want an academic school rather than a party school. I work very hard and enjoy it and I know that at Tufts I will be able to continue doing so. </p>

<p>And EVERYBODY where I live has heard of Tufts. Obviously the school isn't going to be as well known as others, but it has been my experience that every educated and intelligent person I have met has known of it.</p>

3

<p>hey person1233 and to all others,</p>

<p>its not worth continuing this thread. so no more posts i guess. we all know how tufts is.</p>

<p>The post by chriswallace has no point at all. Maybe he cudnt fit in, but he sund't assume the same for others.</p>

4

<p>I'm sorry that your experience was negative, but after visiting the school, speaking with students and alumni, I must disagree with you. To begin with, Where I live Tufts is highly regarded as one of the best colleges in the country. In reality, very few people care about US News Rankings, as these are merely media-pandering rubbish. Nearly everyone I know has heard of Tufts. A teacher of mine who did his undergrad @ Oxford and his grad @ Tufts was thrilled with my acceptance and excitedly told me about the wonderful teachers, highly intelligent students, and opportunities that awaited. This has, in large part, been the opinion shared by my teachers and peers. For my area of interest, IR & Humanities, Tufts is widely known as being one of the best in the nation, easily on par with Georgetown, Columbia, and JHU. Tufts only has an inferiority complex on boards such as CC. As with many other excellent, elite colleges (i.e. Rice, Pomona, Amherst) which are in league with Tufts, not everyone has heard of the school. That being said, friends of mine across the US know about the quality of Tufts and i've known about the school for years. Why on earth would someone want to go to a party school with poor academics like Florida when you could go to a prestigious college like Tufts that is focused much more on academics. And, as for your chat w/ WUSTL Med - WUSTL is well-known to be a school that is solely concerned with it's USNews ranking, and has worked to raise it considerably, knowing full well that the types of students who enter WUSTL are not the same calibre as those at schools like Amherst, Bowdoin, or Tufts. As for prestige, Tufts accepted only 23% of over 15,500 application - exactly on par with Georgetown, Duke, etc...with same/higher SAT avgs, etc. Maybe you couldn't fit in with the intellectual environment? Where did you transfer to? The college is extremely well-known among those who are in the professional world and graduate world - that is a fact. This has been echoed by other alumni and current students. And, returning to IR and humanities, how could you have trouble with school recognition when you've graduated from a college with some of the best professors in the nation? And, the Fletcher School is right there - blending its' advantages into the University. WUSTL aside (even my school's guidance counselors detest that school, calling it a 'fake'), A solid GPA @ a school like Tufts carries a lot more weight than from a place like UoFlorida, and as much weight as a Duke, or JHU degree.</p>

5

<p>So, tell me again why Tufts has one of the highest retention rates in the country....yeah. Anyway, glad you got that all out.</p>

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<p>Oh, yes, what was the retention rate? Something like 97%? Sounds pretty 'darn good to me :)</p>

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<p>I'm sorry that Tufts didn't work out for you. Best of luck to you, though.</p>

<p>However, I would have to contend your point that people aren't happy here. If we weren't they would have all left by now.</p>

8

<p>there are going to be people at EVERY single school that are totally miserable- its human nature. the retention rate is absolutely key to determine how well most people think of the school.</p>

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<p>wow i love all the angry responses! especially from kids who dont even go to tufts yet. I was just trying to give you all an idea of what you are in for. I tried my very hardest to enjoy tufts...in response to "person" I like to work hard too...obviously I did if I got in to tufts. Its just what you do when you arent working. At tufts it feels like every week is midterms week and everyone is freaking out about grades and going to the library all the time. I came to tufts with a totally open mind. I wanted to learn about different kidns of people and experience being far from home, but Tufts soon let me down. I played 3 sports and did a fraternity, but was still miserable there. I really hope you guys don't have the same experience, but among my friends I did not know very many who would make the same college choice again.</p>

10

<p>I believe Snuffles goes to Tufts University. </p>

<p>I'm sorry if your college experience did not turn out as hoped - as huskem stated, not everyone will be happy @ their school. I do (sincerely) hope that you are enjoying wherever you transferred to. There will be students who can't stand Tufts for whatever reason, in the same way that some can't stand Stanford, Duke (I am one of those - didn't apply because I think Duke has some irrational ideas about how a university should be run), etc. etc. However, by making such blanket statements as: "I was just trying to give you all an idea of what you are in for" sounds as if we should all prepare ourselves for a shock of dissapointment. The alumni I have spoken with loved the school - that is my experience. And, with such a high retention rate and extremely high selectivity (on par with other elite institutions) that is a reflection of the number of top students clamouring to get a spot in the University, I highly doubt that your group of friends are a representation of 4,000 undergraduate and 3,800 graduates' opinions. At a school like Tufts, I would expect students to be spending a significant amount of time in the Library - that's how they got into Tufts in the 1st place. Socially, what I saw were top, intellectual students having fun and enjoying life through their own passions, as well as working very hard towards their degree. And I need not remind you further that a Tufts degree is highly respected, regardless of what you may have been told otherwise.</p>

11

<p>
[quote]
At tufts it feels like every week is midterms week and everyone is freaking out about grades and going to the library all the time

[/quote]

Actually, that's the case at every good private school. If you're transfering into another "good" school, I certainly hope that you don't expect to breeze through it without doing any work. It is reasonable to complain about the work load at MIT or Caltech, but if you think Tufts is "too hard", then you really shouldn't expect much from life.</p>

<p>Your evidence of how Tufts isn't a feeder school for Grad schools are taken out of context. Tuft's acceptance rate to Law school is much higher than many of the schools you listed, AND Tufts isn't known for it's pre-law program. If you look at the statistics for Medical school, it's much higher. Almost every school's medical school acceptance rate is greater than its law school acceptance rate, but at Tufts, it's the opposite.</p>

<p>As for "nobody knows about Tufts in Atlanta", well DUH!! Tufts is a regional school, much like Emory in Atlanta. Nobody in Boston has every heard of Emory University either. But Tufts has a solid reputation in the New England area and is clearly more prestigious in most people's minds than larger schools, such as BC, BU, and NYU.</p>

<p>Tufts does have an inferiority complex... but so does YALE. Who cares?? Some people could babble on about how great Tufts is all they want. Does it really affect you?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Oh, yes, what was the retention rate? Something like 97%? Sounds pretty 'darn good to me

[/quote]

It's more like 85-90% over four years and 91% over six. Check the Tufts website...</p>

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<p>Actually, everyone i know in NH has heard of Emory. lol. Otherwise, I agree with your points. And I have been told that the Tufts workload is like MIT or JHU, or Caltech (remember, those are engineering-focused, so different style of workload). </p>

<p>You're right with the retention rate (lol) - it's still very high, though.</p>

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<p>"if you think Tufts is "too hard", then you really shouldn't expect much from life."
lol
i don't know what else to say to that, but as for everything else im not here to argue about tufts. In my original post said what I believe is true, sincerely wished better luck to those of you who are going there, offered unbiased help answering questions about the school... and that still stands. let me know if anyone has any other questions.</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
Actually, everyone i know in NH has heard of Emory. lol.

[/quote]

Well I exagerated by saying that "nobody has ever heard of", but I doubt that more people in Boston have heard of Emory than people in Atlanta who have heard of Tufts. Tufts is a regionally prestigous private school, much like Rice, Emory, and Wake Forest. Much of this is because Tufts lack "prestigious" and large grad schools and is a division 3 school. Even schools like Duke and Notre Dame are not nationally known for its academics, but for its sports.</p>

<p>
[quote]
And I have been told that the Tufts workload is like MIT or JHU, or Caltech

[/quote]

I have never heard of that, but I certainly hope that the rumors are not true. :)</p>

<p>chriswallace, what school are you transfering into? It seems like that you want a nationally prestigious school that will give you a great chance to get into top grad schools. Well your only options are probably the Ivys, Stanford, MIT, or Caltech. But all of those schools are probably HARDER than Tufts. So if you cannot handle the Tufts workload, then good luck at those schools. If you decided to transfer into a no-name state school in Atlanta, well then you just WASTED 75 thousand tuition at Tufts and got nothing back for it.</p>

<p>You're quote about how grad schools look at GPA and not the school is obviously meant to be a politically correct statement. But in reality, the undergrad school you go to matters greatly in admissions decision. Almost all private school's average GPA is between a 3.3 and a 3.4. Yet, students from more prestigious schools have a clear advantage in grad school admissions. For example, Harvard's average GPA is a 3.39 and Northwestern's is a 3.38 ( <a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.gradeinflation.com&lt;/a> ) while Harvard graduates have a HUGE advantage over Northwestern graduates in grad school admissions. Why is that???? It's because Harvard is more PRESTIGIOUS, which factors greatly in admissions. Tufts has that same advantage over less prestigious schools.</p>

<p>
[quote]
offered unbiased

[/quote]
</p>

<p>LoL.... unbiased.... Comming from someone who failed out and decided it wasn't worth paying last 2 years of tuition because he was going to graduate with a low GPA anyways?</p>

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<p>Did you and I go to the same school? I've met a few crazy, nervous, study-all-the-time types, but not everyone is like that. Also, although it's true that in the general population nobody has heard of Tufts, among the professionals I've met, nearly all have heard of it and have a high opinion of it.</p>

<p>If you wanted a party school, you shouldn't have come to Tufts. If the school does not suit your interests and ambitions, then you should transfer.</p>

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<p>Clutch - Tufts is renowned for their grad schools - Fletcher, Vet, and Medical. Let's get into the real world, not the CC world. & Tufts is nationally prestigious - Just about everyone I've met (across-country, too) knows how good the school is, even if they don't exactly now where it is. Other than that, good points.</p>

17

<p>If you were wondering, I am transferring to UNC Chapel Hill. I got a scholarship there, so if you were going to argue that it costs so much for out of state...its actually cheaper for me than in state. I did not "fail out" of Tufts, my GPA there was a 3.4. My main point was that you can save a ton of money, have more fun, and still end up in the same place after college if you dont go to Tufts.</p>

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<p>hey chris,
i'm sorry to hear that you're leaving but hopefully you'll be happy at UNC. you will be missed at wilderness! good luck!
- kristen</p>

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<p>hey! wilderness is definitely the best part of the year, so if you are an incoming freshman do it.</p>

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<p>"For example, Harvard's average GPA is a 3.39 and Northwestern's is a 3.38 ( <a href="http://www.gradeinflation.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.gradeinflation.com&lt;/a> ) while Harvard graduates have a HUGE advantage over Northwestern graduates in grad school admissions. Why is that???? It's because Harvard is more PRESTIGIOUS, which factors greatly in admissions. Tufts has that same advantage over less prestigious schools."</p>

<p>RU saying that Tufts is more prestigious than Northwestern</p>

<p>if that is the case, i think you provided me with a very nice joke</p>

<p>Northwestern is not only MORE Prestigious, it is more selective, it has major athletic teams, it has better grad placement</p>

<p>who ru kidding?</p>