<p>I really feel for Ajax and other strong applicants who were not successful in this ED round. For those who have yet to apply to Tufts and really want to attend, I think these results point to something I have believed all along: the essays REALLY matter, maybe at many schools, but very definitely at Tufts. I know how busy fall semester of senior year is, how it’s tempting to think that all your hard work to date (and the results of that labor) should be enough to get you through, and just how daunting that essay can be. But the reality is that many, many applicants have sufficient hard numbers and the essays are the only opportunity to really reveal who you are—your passion, wit, spark, empathy, eccentricity, whatever. So embrace those essays as an opportunity rather than a chore. And just in case you missed this article about how Tufts developed its focus on the essay portion of the application (and how important it is to its decisions), here it is:</p>
<p>I’m applying to Tufts RD… Just a random comment: It seems like the majority of you who were accepted did not apply for financial aid. Do you think it makes a difference in the admission decision? I know all these schools say they “practice need-blind admissions” but then… why do they ask whether you’re applying for aid or not?</p>
<p>Anyway, my parents made me apply for aid (even though our income is 200K+) and I’m wondering if I should change it to say that I’m not going to apply for aid. Would that help me out?</p>
<p>Tufts is (albeit, unofficially) need-blind. They’ve been practicing need-blind admissions for the past several years (I think starting with the class of '11) but can’t officially state it because of the current economic situation. Plus, if they were for some reason to run out of financial aid funding, that would be very, very bad. Don’t NOT apply for aid if you actually need it.</p>
<p>[ b]Objective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT I : 2160 (800 M-700 CR-660 W)
[ *] ACT: -
[ *] SAT II: MATH 2 : 760 MATH 1: 750 BIOLOGY:700
[ *] Unweighted GPA : 88/100
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 22/500
[ *] AP :-
[ *] IB : 43
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: IB
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Few school based design award one national one</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): editor x3 mun chair theater club president director designer
[ *] Job/Work Experience: paid poster designer
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: few
[ *] Summer Activities: 1 month internship with a crosswords editor
[ *] Essays: common app: great others: i didn’t know how was they but appearently they were great
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: awesome
[ *] Counselor Rec: awesome
[ *] Additional Rec: none
[ *] Interview: none</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[ *] Intended Major: undecided
[ *] State (if domestic applicant):
[ *] Country (if international applicant): turkey
[ *] School Type: private
[ *] Ethnic: white
[ *] Gender: female
[ *] Income Bracket: middle class
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Reflection[ /b][ list]
[ *] Strengths: optional essay-sent a poster
[ *] Weaknesses: applied for aid
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: dunno
[ /list][ b]General Comments:[ /b]</p>
<p>[ b]Objective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT I : 2160 (800 M-700 CR-660 W)
[ *] ACT: -
[ *] SAT II: MATH 2 : 760 MATH 1: 750 BIOLOGY:700
[ *] Unweighted GPA : 88/100
[ *] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 22/500
[ *] AP :-
[ *] IB : 43
[ *] Senior Year Course Load: IB
[ *] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Few school based design award one national one</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): editor x3 mun chair theater club president director designer
[ *] Job/Work Experience: paid poster designer
[ *] Volunteer/Community service: few
[ *] Summer Activities: 1 month internship with a crosswords editor
[ *] Essays: common app: great others: i didn’t know how was they but appearently they were great
[ *] Teacher Recommendation: awesome
[ *] Counselor Rec: awesome
[ *] Additional Rec: none
[ *] Interview: none</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *] Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
[ *] Intended Major: undecided
[ *] State (if domestic applicant):
[ *] Country (if international applicant): turkey
[ *] School Type: private
[ *] Ethnic: white
[ *] Gender: female
[ *] Income Bracket: middle class
[ *] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Reflection[ /b][ list]
[ *] Strengths: optional essay-sent a poster
[ *] Weaknesses: applied for aid
[ *] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: dunno
[ /list][ b]General Comments:[ /b]
I didn’t set my goals to ivies I set it to my reach and i reached it.</p>
<p>My S1 was ACCEPTED to Tufts EDI. He is extremely psyched! SAT score between 2100 and 2200. We live in New England so I’m thrilled he won’t be too far away…GPA 4.8 weighted, @4.5 unweighted, I think? Outstanding recommendations.</p>
<p>He worked for a good part of August on all the Tufts essays only. After touring about 12-15 schools, he FELL IN LOVE with Tufts as a perfect “fit” for him and we cannot be happier for him and proud. Yay Jumbos! :)</p>
<p>Hi ajax…shortstop is correct…it is out of a possible 5.0…his GPA is the equivalent to an A/A+ if that helps. His GPA was much higher than his SAT scores. Anyway, he is very psyched to be going to his number one choice school.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether its needs-blind or not, will they look at your app in the RD pool combined with your financial need and then make your decision, or are they simply more selective for those of a financial need?</p>
<p>I’m applying for aid even though I don’t expect much from any of the schools I’m applying to (except perhaps the Ivy I’m applying to that I probably won’t even get in), just because I have an twin who will also probably be attending a top private university next year and with that as well as my parent’s divorce in mind, I’m hoping to at least get some more than a normal applicant with my family’s income. Now I’m worried though; should I change my app to reflect that I’m not applying for aid? I don’t think I can actually attend Tufts even if I do get some aid–my family has a good income, but didn’t plan perfectly and with two kids at the exact same time, who has $100,000 to spend each year?–but it’s a school I love very much and I would hate to be rejected nevertheless.</p>
<p>bandgeek, I don’t know what your family income is, but with two going to college at the same time, there is a good chance that you will get some aid. Aid packages are difficult to predict - so you may want to apply widely and see what happens.</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Reading 620, Math 530, Writing 540
ACT: N/A
SAT II: Biology 590, US History 600,
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 unweighted.
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/24
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Biology (1), AP US History (3),
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, Anatomy, Playwriting, Modern European History, Statistics, Journalism.
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Outstanding Excellence Award in Pre-Calculus
Outstanding Excellence Award in Living Environment
Art Excellence Award
Physical Education Excellence Award
Athletic Participation Award (Varsity Soccer 2009)
Over-all Recognition Award in 10th Grade Art )
Honorable Mention Award as Iran in the Disarmament and International Security Committee at the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference 2009
Honorable Mention Award as Argentina in the Economic and Financial Committee at the South Jersey Model United Nations 2009
Outstanding Delegation Award as Venezuela in the World Trade Organization at the Rutgers University Model United Nations Conference 2009
1st Honors Academic Excellence Award (2008-2009)
Kew Forest Scholar Award 2009-2010</p>
<p>Subjective:
Extracurriculars: (place leadership in parenthesis): Model UN- (President); Varsity Soccer- (Captain); Journalism- (Editor of school yearbook); Forester Article- School Literary Magazine (editor); Tennis; Aid to Haiti foundation- (Founder); Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools-(volunteer and member);</p>
<p>Job/Work Experience: Intern at the Farm Institute in Martha’s Vineyard; Intern at Montenapo Ristorante- NY; summer camp counselor; private tutor in Spanish; Club Promoter in Manhattan-Ginglu Company</p>
<p>Volunteer/Community service:
Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools-volunteer
Trinity Baptist Church- volunteer
YSOP- Volunteer
Habitat for Humanity-volunteer
Farm Institute in MV- volunteer</p>
<p>Summer Activities: Summer camp junior counselor (paid), summer camp volunteer (unpaid, obviously… hehe), interning at Farm Institute and Montenapo Ristorante.
Essays: Pretty good, I believe. Common app essay : about dragonflies
Teacher Recommendations: Three. International Relations/ Modern Euro teacher (favorite teacher ever!) who I had for three years. AP English teacher. Both teachers told me they wrote great recommendations for me after they sent them.
Counselor Rec: Should’ve been really good. He was very confident I was going to be able to get into Tufts.
Interview: I think it went well, the dean was pretty happy about my being a Republican and
actually liking President Obama.
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
Intended Major: International Relations
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: Approximately $80k… not sure what “bracket” that is.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation College
Reflection
Strengths: Essays, teacher recs, GPA, Sports, EC’s
Weaknesses: SAT’s
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Hm. Same as strengths?
General Comments: I am honored to be accepted at such a prestigious university. And I will definitely make a great fit in the school. I cannot wait to attend next year.</p>
<p>Is it funny that I don’t believe that above post? Why would a Dean interview you? And I am skeptical that a person with those test scores and not in the top 10% of their class got in early admissions (I could perhaps believe if one or two section of your test scores was really good and the other(s) were okay). I also find it odd that a college counselor would be that confident with those numbers. Also because it’s inconsistent with other people who applied and were accepted, deferred, or rejected. Just my opinionnnnnn.</p>
<p>Be skeptical if you want,
I will see you at Tufts next year
I just posted my information so that
others can be assured that the SAT’s are not the most important thing
in the admissions process. Check out this link: [To</a> get the real star students, college admissions should look beyond SATs](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111902997.html?hpid=sec-education]To”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111902997.html?hpid=sec-education)<br>
This can perhaps can allow others to be more confident and less stressed. And I went to the campus for a special overnight trip with about 100 or so people
from the east coast. And I am ranked third in my grade, my school is a competitive private school in new york if that is why it does not match up with every one else.</p>
<p>Hahaha. Fair enough. To be honest, one thing interesting about Tufts is that they they deemphasize test scores and the like and look more towards essays. Though it is strange a dean interviewed you.</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 620 CR, 690 M, 760 W (Total= 2070)
[</em>] ACT: 29 (didn’t submit)
[<em>] SAT II: Biology: 740 Math: 620
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.37
[<em>] Weight GPA: 4.557
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (4) US History (4)
[</em>] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calculus AB, Honors Physics (highest available), AP Psychology (VHS), Honors English, Fitness (required), mixed Chorus (unweighted), Level III Sociology, Oceanography Level III (next semester)
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Wells College 21st Century Leadership Award</p>
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Cross Country, Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, Chemistry Club, Literary Magazine Club, National Beta Club, Student Office, National Honor Society, French National Honor Society, Western Mass ARML, etc.
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: N/A
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: volunteer at a hospital and as an art’s teacher’s assistant as well as Relay for Life every year
[</em>] Summer Activities: running camp, biology boot camp, volunteering at hospital
[<em>] Essays: subpar
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation: should be decent
[<em>] Counselor Rec: probably subpar since I just got a new counselor THIS YEAR. Basically screwed me over because this new counselor knows nothing about me.
[</em>] Additional Rec: N/A
[li] Interview: N/A</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[</em>] Intended Major: Biology
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): Massachusetts
[</em>] Country (if international applicant):
[<em>] School Type: public
[</em>] Ethnicity: Asian
[<em>] Gender: Female
[</em>] Income Bracket: middle class
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Class Treasurer, decent runner</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: extra curriculars, essay?
[</em>] Weaknesses: GPA, SATs
[li] Why you think you were rejected: 1. low GPA/SATs 2. counselor rec. probably stunk 3. collegeboard didn’t process my SAT I and II scores for some reason even though I sent it in early Oct., and Tufts sent me an email in late Nov. telling me this >:( 4. Tufts didn’t like my personality? =[[/li][/ul]General Comments: Meh.</p>
</p>