<p>While this thread is a bit moot, for folks in a similar situation/who are interested in Tufts, do some research on the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts. It is an institute without equal in the country. </p>
<p>Tufts is very big at enabling people to take their learning to the location of the subject material and/or with top people in the field (particularly through the IGL). I took a class this year called Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC). It’s basically a course that the head of the IGL runs every year, each time focusing on a different global current events issue. This year was ‘Our Nuclear Age: Peril and Promise.’ It was the best class I ever took, and likely ever will take. </p>
<p>The class was taught by people who the head of the IGL (Sherman Teichman, a God among men) invites through his infinite rolodex who are experts and practitioners in the field. We learned about nuclear physics and the South Asian nuclear situation from Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy, head of the physics department at the main university in Islamabad and intellectual head of the South Asian arms control movement. We learned about the North Korean situation from the current US special envoy to the DPRK (who is also the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts). Cool fact: I have classmates from EPIIC who are now leaving to visit both of the Koreas. Yes, BOTH of them. We learned about nuclear energy and terrorism from experts at Harvard’s Belfer Centre and from MIT. In February, we organised this huge international symposium on nuclear issues, inviting attendees and panelists from all around the country and the world. While the class is incredibly demanding and certainly not for every student, the symposium is open to the student body and the public, and we have a lot of people attend. Not only do we get to learn from these people, but we develop relationships and professional connections with them, making us very well-networked to go out and find the internships and research opportunities that we want to. </p>
<p>If you ever watch a major news network when they’re reporting on nuclear issues or national security issues, there’s a good chance they’ll be talking to a man named Jim Walsh. I know him personally through EPIIC, and everyone in the class knows him as a totally awesome person. </p>
<p>The opportunities at Tufts and the IGL are not limited to EPIIC. There’s tons of stuff. It requires you to take initiative, have conversations with professors and important people, and put in a good bit of effort. This would likely not be as much the case at a place like NEU, where you’re set up with these things as a matter of course, but I’d say that the opportunities at Tufts–for those willing to take them–are fantastic.</p>