Depending on your major and with a little bit of help from your adviser you may be able to study abroad in the program of your choice for one semester. </p>
<p>Also I don’t know too much about this, and it’s only available for certain majors, but if you find an abroad program that is supported by your department, then you’ll be able to transfer an entire year’s worth of credits. I know the Tufts physics program in London fits in perfectly for Engineering Physics majors. I suggest emailing the department of your chosen engineering field to find out more.</p>
<p>Or you can of course do a summer abroad program, which is generally more relaxed and more fun.</p>
<p>With regards to the research comparisons to other liberal arts colleges:</p>
<p>Tufts generally, but not always has a larger research program than other liberal arts schools. Since we do have graduate students in nearly every single laboratory setting, there is a strong focus on producing and publishing research. So Professors in the Biology Department do get published in journals like Science and Nature. Also there are a lot of major research programs that may often be more advanced than at smaller schools. Like I said before, because of the strong undergraduate focus, professors are usually very accomodating in taking in and training undergraduates. What’s important is that faculty prefer a commitment from students because training takes a long time and usually you can’t get substantial research done in a single semester - so faculty become invested in students. </p>
<p>I also want to point out that though smaller liberal arts schools may have smaller faculty sizes and less research opportunities (at times), they still produce excellent scientists. In fact, smaller liberal arts colleges have a propensity for producing students who go on to do graduate work in their fields. In high school I was lucky enough to work in a major protein laboratory with a Postdoctoral researcher who graduated from Swarthmore (so she clearly had no problem in her later career). </p>
<p>It really depends on a school by school basis what you’re looking for and all of the other factors that go into college selection. But Tufts certainly offers a lot of undergraduate support and focus for its science students. A good way to think about Tufts is as a middleground between a larger research university and a small liberal arts college, with a bit more tilt towards the larger research university.</p>
<p>My roommate who is an engineer is doing that Tufts in Talloires (France) this summer. Studying abroad is definitely possible, even if you major in science or are in the engineering school.</p>
<p>I’ve been doing a lot of research on Biomolecular/Biomed Engineer at Tufts, comparing it to the programs at Northwestern. Based on what I found, Tufts has a very strong undergrad and grad BME, but Northwestern is much more well-known in the bio-engineer industry. Also, while Tufts seems to focus more on undergrad and offers a greater variety of classes, Northwestern has a great co-op program. </p>
<p>All my college guide books tell me that Engineering is BIG at Tufts, but Tufts doesn’t come anywhere close to Northwestern in most rankings and is omitted in the US News biomedical engineering ranking. </p>
<p>I am accepted to both of their engineering schools and I would love to go to Tufts, but right now I can’t find any evidence on that Tufts guarantees its undergrad a spot in prominent research institutes/grad schools/bio companies.</p>
<p>Tuft’s undergrad biomed program is a very new program, which is probably why it doesn’t seem like it has made a big impact yet rankings or hiring-wise. I think this year’s class might be the first graduating BME class, which is also why the program is not yet IBET? accredited. Once it has graduated a certain number of students the program can gain accreditation, and I believe that’s what they plan to do.
Also, Tufts does have a separate graduate school of biomedical science, I believe, which is also very strong and leads to some good opportunities for undergrads.</p>
<p>to add on about bme… david kaplan from what i hear is an amazing teacher and is on the forefront of research of silk biomaterial. also the bme program is very rigorous and only accepts 15 students each year.</p>
<p>don’t forget that if you’re interested in doing biomedical research at tufts, a lot of undergrads (including me!) work in labs at the medical school/dental school/sackler in boston. There is a ton of research going on over there, and even though the commute can be annoying, it’s a great opportunity.</p>