<p>Why is tufts, despite being a little ivy, not given as much credit when it comes to rankings? It is only 27th for US colleges on USnews and on world rankings ranks below UT Austin, UMD, and even umass amherst.
Can someone explain this discrepancy and if I could still get an I banking job with a quantative economics major here? </p>
<p>Worldwide rankings are primarily based on research output with little or no adjustment for the size of a school. Tufts is a fairly small school. </p>
<p>Domestically, Tufts does not have the endowment to compete with the topmost schools. </p>
<p>Okay that makes sense thank you</p>
<p>Wouldn’t say “only 27th” is too shabby. Tufts does well in other rankings, often better. Forbes, Payscale, Washington Monthly. Plus, it is highly regarded in terms of academic, social and financial aid indicators in the Fiske Guide to Colleges and Princeton Review. </p>
<p>My sense is that nobody knows what to do with Tufts. Seems too small for a national university and too big for a liberal arts college. In my opinion, that is what makes it so special. Even college confidential does not put it in their shortcuts because they can’t figure it out.</p>
<p>^ my daughter just added Tufts to her list and I was surprised to see that it is not in the CC list of top universities. It has a very good reputation in the Boston area- much better than BU/NEU and just a step below Harvard.</p>
<p>Sorry @gondalineNJ I did not mean to say 27th was low it is a very good ranking I have just heard some of its equals are Wash U, JHU, etc which are ranked higher. I have actually decided to ED there I think I love the feeling of the school. Thanks for your help guys</p>
<p>It’s better for the Tufts community to not obsess about rankings. The school is sufficiently competitive and is creating a solid identity to distinguish itself from schools in the greater Boston area. In a recent visits to Tufts and Harvard, our small group thought that Tufts would be a better place for an <em>undergraduate</em> education as it is a step closer to a smaller LAC experience (fewer big uni distractions).</p>
<p>And gosh, please don’t call it a little Ivy. I rarely encourage targetting Ivy League schools for undergrad. Tufts is Tufts. Thank God its sports are DIII and it cares a ton about the undergraduate experience.</p>
<p>In general, I prefer to think of Tufts as an “Ivy alternative” rather than a “little Ivy”. </p>
<p>Dartmouth is the “littlest Ivy” and it is actually smaller than Tufts. Does that make Tufts a “big Ivy” or does that make Dartmouth a “little NESCAC”? But then again, Dartmouth is bigger than Wesleyan and all the other NESCAC schools, so maybe Dartmouth is a “big NESCAC”? </p>
<p>It is kind of confusing, and as @hvbaseballdad suggests, College Confidential’s senior advisor can’t make up her mind, either. She appears to consider Tufts a “big LAC” and Brandeis and Wesleyan “little universities” - despite the fact that Tufts is bigger and does more research than either Wesleyan or Brandeis and the USNews rankings classify Tufts as a University and both College Confidential and USNews classify Wesleyan as a LAC. </p>
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<p><a href=“Weighing the Option of Applying to College Early Decision II”>http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2011/11/education_leaders_are_closer_to.html</a></p>
<p>I think that the primary distinction between Tufts and the Ivies is one of culture, not one of size. Tufts feels more laid-back, friendly and unpretentious than the hyper-competitive, “type-A” atmosphere typically associated with the Northeast. I know it is hard to do in this rating obsessed world, but I agree with @worldspirit and think that worrying too much about rankings and “selectivity” is actually very “un-Tufts-like”, and serves to erode its unique identity. If you love the feeling of the school, then that is a strong sign that Tufts is a good cultural fit for you, and you are going to have a hard time duplicating that fit elsewhere.</p>
<p>As far as attaching any “Ivy” moniker to Tufts goes, it is important to remember that sometime within the last couple of decades, the environmental community classified English ivy as an invasive species. English ivy eradication initiatives were started (sometimes secretly) at many of the oldest colleges in the northeast. I think the term “Ivy” has behaved in a similar manner and therefore we should undertake initiatives to eradicate the term from the college evaluation lexicon.</p>
<p>This thread explores this issue pretty well.</p>
<p><a href=“Tufts' Reputation - Tufts University - College Confidential Forums”>Tufts' Reputation - Tufts University - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Reputation-wise, it’s a bit like Wesleyan and Colgate for those interested in viewing it as a big LAC, and like Case-Western Reserve and University of Rochester for those liking small research-based universities.</p>
<p>Historically a choice for top kids from New England who couldn’t get into Harvard, now trying to carve out a distinctive identity so that it is not seen as a fall back school. Aspires to have the cache of Brown and Johns Hopkins, but falls short. </p>
<p>@GreenIndian </p>
<p>Think the “fall back” characterization is dead horse beating. Don’t think it’s “trying” to carve out a distinctive identity. It has it. By not caring so much about its identity. (And it’s cachet, not cache.) </p>
<p>How have you formed your impressions of Tufts, might I ask? I sense a slant in your few but very pointed posts.</p>
<p>@GreenIndian:</p>
<p>I am confused. </p>
<p>I thought that Old Scarecrow claimed to be the historian and that you claimed to have come over from India just a couple of years ago… </p>
<p>Now you appear to be the historian and you appear to have taken over Old Scarecrow’'s role of re-surfacing this seven or eight year old thread on a twice yearly basis… </p>
<p>In any event, if Tufts were the choice for top kids from New England who couldn’t get into Harvard (as you claim), then Tufts would have the distinctive identity of being the #2 College in New England- ahead of Yale, Brown and Dartmouth, as well as Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Bates …</p>
<p>That would be pretty close to the latest Payscale Data that ranks Tufts #2 in New England Behind MIT and ahead of Harvard. This year they added the percent of STEM degrees so one can tell if the ranking is affected by the mix of degree types. Note that Tufts has one of the highest percentages of fine arts degrees granted and no business school,
so it is getting very little boost from degree type. </p>
<p><a href=“Top Research Colleges | Payscale”>http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/best-schools-by-type/bachelors/research-universities</a></p>
<p>But, as it turns out, Colgate is ranked slightly higher.</p>
<p><a href=“Best Universities and Colleges | Payscale”>http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/bachelors</a></p>
<p>@Mastadon </p>
<p>No need to even qualify the Payscale data list by narrowing in on MA specifically. Tufts at #4 on the full “Research University by Salary Potential” list—right behind MIT, Caltech and Stanford—is amazing. </p>
<p>@gondalineNJ
I wouldn’t say Tufts doesn’t care much about its identity - I think the school (and students, faculty, staff, alumni, etc) care deeply about the identity. But that identity is one of public service, active citizenship, and trying to set the school apart not by playing the rankings game but by trying to foster an environment for people who are interested in making some kind of positive change.</p>