<p>And here are the stats for the Class of 2012 alone from the Tufts website:</p>
<p>The class enrolls with the highest, two-part SAT mean (1415) in University history as well as the highest mean scores on the critical reading (707), math (708)
and writing (709) sections.</p>
<p>Doesn't sound like Tufts Syndrome to me.</p>
<p>Yeah honestly, it's just that Tufts doesn't ONLY look for high scores. Tufts looks for high scores and a very present personality and for students with demonstrated passion (shown in essays/recs/EC's/subjective areas of the application).</p>
<p>As for the examples on the first page of the thread - those are just a handful of people. If you can show it to me on a large scale, then maybe I'll agree. Perhaps those kids simply didn't take their Tufts app very seriously.</p>
<p>If you haven't heard about the Kaleidoscope project at Tufts, you might want to look into it. Tufts Dean of Students Robert Sternberg's field of study is multiple intelligences, and he has been working with the admissions office to try to apply some of his research to the admissions process. The somewhat offbeat nature of the Tufts supplement is designed to get at some of the forms of intelligence that don't show up well in standardized tests and GPAs.</p>
<p>In general, the higher your test scores and grades, the greater your chances of getting into Tufts (and most every "elite" college). I've seen a lot of data and can confirm that relationship. Students with not-so-perfect scores and grades who are admitted to Tufts get there based on those other intelligences--things like creativity and leadership potential.</p>
<p>^ I agree with Seashore in post #23.</p>