<p>Schools on the same competitive level as Tufts that would be good for sciences are
Emory
Vanderbilt
Cornell
Washington University (a little too concerned with SAT scores)</p>
<p>Similar to Tufts but varying selectivity:</p>
<p>More selective than Tufts:
Brown
Stanford
Dartmouth
Duke</p>
<p>Slightly more selective:
Georgetown
Northwestern
WashU
Rice</p>
<p>Equally selective:
Emory
Vanderbilt</p>
<p>Less selective:
Wake Forest</p>
<p>Similar to Tufts but varying selectivity:</p>
<p>More selective than Tufts:
Brown
Stanford
Dartmouth
Duke</p>
<p>Slightly more selective:
Georgetown
Northwestern
WashU
Rice</p>
<p>Equally selective:
Emory
Vanderbilt</p>
<p>Less selective:
Wake Forest</p>
<p>Hi drb: My D is a freshman at Tufts: Other schools mentioned in this thread that she applied to or looked at but turned down include: </p>
<p>Wash U is similar in many ways, but St. Louis does not hold a candle to Boston for the city opportunities; </p>
<p>USC: totally different feel. Too serious about big football, greek system, prestige, whereas Tufts has a "world view" feel; turned down a presidential scholarship because USC really rubbed her the wrong way.</p>
<p>JHU: Students seemed too serious/intense; heavy emphasis on research permeates everything; kids did not seem friendly/happy.......whereas Tufts kids just seemed to be enjoying school and life, while working hard</p>
<p>Cornell: too far away from a city. If Tufts' access to Boston appeals to your D, Cornell will seem isolated. Probably true for Dartmouth as well.</p>
<p>Brown: Lacked enough structure to the course requirements. This is what appeals to Brown kids....very loose and free flowing. My D needed/wanted more guidance/structure. </p>
<p>by the way: Many comment on the Tuft's language requirement as being excessive. The requirement can be met by a combination of traditional language classes as well as a variety of "cultural" classes for those that are not good at languages or don't want to take as many semesters.</p>
<p>NYU: No campus to speak of. Same is true for George Washington. Tufts has a beautiful campus and that small LAC feel.</p>
<p>Emory was the most similar school to Tufts that we looked at; just to far "south" for my kiddo.</p>
<p>The Claremont schools also fit well, but they were way too close to home for my D. She wanted to go to the opposite coast. </p>
<p>Too bad your D wants to go elsewhere, Tufts is a gem. My D loves it there (tho she has yet to experience her first east coast winter....we are from So Cal.)</p>
<p>Take a good look at Vassar (yes, I'm biased) ... it's a bit smaller than Tufts but may fit your daughter's needs. Beautiful campus, academic and social diversity (not pre-professional though,) sports are available but not a rah-rah campus (no football team if that matters.) Fairly comparable academically - perhaps a bit easier for students to get admitted.</p>
<p>Slipper (et al): Actually, Northwestern is slighly less selective than Tufts. As is JHU. Though nearly negligibly so.</p>
<p>Georgetown, Northwestern, JHU, Emory, UChicago, and Tufts compete for many of the same students. Their accepted students' stats are nearly identical though acceptance rates range from 21% to 28%.</p>
<p>I would caution anyone about putting much credence in statements like "slightly less selective..."</p>
<p>If only it were so easy as looking at stats and concluding "SAT average is a bit lower, must be less selective!"</p>
<p>The best anyone can do is categorize schools in broad categories regarding selectivity, which is what the better guides do, and recognize that there are many confounding factors that make admissions predictions one step above guesswork, and not a big step.</p>
<p>I've seen too many "exceptions" to the so called selectivity categories to think that fine (even medium) distinctions can be made. They can't.</p>
<p>Selectivity and quality do not necessarily go hand in hand. In fact, at a certain level, rejecting more candidates may actually make a school less selective, less likely to actually enroll the applicants who might appreciate being on a particular campus the most, and contribute most to the college's environment.</p>
<p>Nor do all colleges select out of the same pool. Berea, for example, with one of the highest per capita endowments of any college in the nation, only accepts about 22% of its applicants. But to enter the applicant pool, family income has to be in the bottom half (or lower) of the U.S. population. Taking that into account, selectivity is about the same as Princeton's - only there are no legacies, developmental admits, or football players. But SAT scores are lower. That's the extreme example, but things aren't always as they seem.</p>
<p>lolabelle,</p>
<p>We had this discussion before and NU is not "slightly less" selective. I'd showed you links with stats already but you keep saying this on CC board. The acceptance rate is 2% higher for NU but it's average SAT is few points higher (probably 10 points or more higher if only schools of arts&sci and engineering are considered), indicating stronger applicant pool for NU.<br>
That doesn't mean NU is better in quality, as mini pointed out.</p>
<p>I was very specifically referring to acceptance rate. And if you re-read what I wrote, you'll see that i said that all these schools compete for teh same students despite their acceptance rates ranging from 21% (Gtown) to 28% (Emory). I said the differences are negligible. That includes the slightly higher SAT score at NU. If you believe less than 10 points higher on the SAT makes the NU applicant cool ever-stronger, then I will simply agree to disagree with you. And I agree with you and Mini that all these schools are great quality schools, despite the negligible differences in acceptance rates, SAT scores, etc. I applied to nearly all of them and got into all the ones I did and, trust me, I would've been happy at any of these schools!</p>
<p>I think all of these schools are clearly in the ballpark if the discussion is "what are reasonable alternative schools for a kid who would have considered Tufts both a fit and a match"? Whatever the selectivity differences, up or down, they're in the ballpark.</p>
<p>I don't necessarily think that they are all a "fit" though, for the type of kid who wants a Tufts-type educational/social/cultural experience.</p>
<p>lolabelle, </p>
<p>So, by your criteria, acceptance rates, U Chicago should be down there with schools like BU? After all, it has a high acceptance rate. </p>
<p>If only selectivity were as simple as comparing acceptance rates. But it is not. And most informed folks know it is not as simple as looking at one number.</p>
<p>Again, it doesn't tell one much of anything really. How, for example, could Tufts offer an education in anyway comparable to that of Berea (or Berry College) with an endowment per student that is so much lower?</p>
<p>Newmassdad: No, by my criteria, schools with similar stats for accepted students are most comparable to each other. When the stats are similar and there are also similar acceptance rates, then they are similarly selective. UChicago would therefore not be comparable to BU -- not by a longshot.</p>
<p>Emory has much in common with Tufts - urban location, no football, but takes pride in other sports, size, etc. Rice also shares some of these attributes but is smaller. WUSTL is very similar. Wake Forest is in a much smaller city, and has a more traditional sports profile = doing fairly well these days, by the by.</p>
<p>Wake Forest..very tough sciences and rep for grade deflation, small classes with high contact with full profs, very high spirited/sporty, med school connected</p>
<p>University of Richmond..see today's announcement of their fab new President and the science building is brand new</p>
<p>Bucknell</p>
<p>Georgia Tech, Atlanta.. a young person's town even with the grueling classes for the Ramblin Wrecks</p>
<p>Furman, my undergrad school, not as diverse but Greenville is a boom town (hello Michelin and BMW, goodbye textiles) Furman graduates high percentage of future PHDs, new science building is going to be cutting edge and high number of physics grads each year for a LAC, Chem is world class and nationally known, new Biology facility is top drawer</p>
<p>Some of those schools are significantly more conservative than Tufts, and will therefore draw a very different kind of student.</p>
<p>agreed, in general Allmusic that you will find segments of "conservative" students at some of the above schools, but college is all about change and growth. But the poster asked for schools which were delivering high quality science educations with less selectivity than Tufts. Tufts is a pretty tough admit.<br>
Boston does not resemble Greenville, SC (!!) but if you haven't been to Greenville and its neighbor Asheville, NC lately you might be surprised with the influx of new cultures, great job market, high numbers of people relocating, with the high quality of arts ventures and with what the New South actually looks like. Keith Lockart, conductor of the Boston Pops was just behind me at Furman and will be playing there very soon. My roommate at Furman later sang in the Chicago Symphony Chorus and at many other big city venues. Brevard is a great music summer festival nearby. Georgia Tech sits in the middle of one of the most diverse cities in America and Atlanta is a very exciting place to be. I have lived in Atlanta four times. And I adore Boston and spent our last spring break there at the Symphony with my kids. I would equate Tufts with Vanderbilt, with Vandy's stellar med and law and business grad schools offering so much to the undergraduate community and to the city of Nashville. Music City also loves Classical as well as new age, country, bluegrass and all sorts of other alternatives. We also LOVE Nashville and are both from north of the Mason Dixon line. I would like to see more New England kids coming to the above colleges.</p>
<p>Allmusic,</p>
<p>So what's wrong with being more conservative than Tufts? or Boston? Maybe the OP's kid is ready for a change? Rather hints at it by wanting to leave town.</p>
<p>FWIW, I think all northeners should spend a spell in the south. Learn a different way of thinking. different weather. It might help lessen some of the political polarization that continues to take place, if regions began to understand each other a bit more.</p>