Suggestions for Tufts backups?

<p>Jr S likes Tufts very much, but realistically needs to expand list to include some other similar and/or 'safer' schools as well. Serious student. Likes a more academic atmosphere, prefers northeast/mid-atlantic, aiming for major in political science, govt, history, etc. Any ideas for other schools? Time for us to start planning some more visits.</p>

<p>hahahaha i am also really like tufts and two of my backups are syracuse and boston U. they both have great IR and poli sci as far as Im concerned</p>

<p>Maybe U Rochester?</p>

<p>how about some of the other nescac schools that are easier to get into? it would be very easy to visit bates/colby in one trip and conn coll/trinity in another. could also see colgate/hamilton in one trip.</p>

<p>EAST
Colgate
Colby
Bowdoin
Haverford
Small ivies?
Trinity
Bard
Sarah Lawrence (3.5 girls for every guy)</p>

<p>MIDWEST
Grinnell
Macalester
Carleton
Knox
Cornell College
Lawrence
Beloit
Oberlin</p>

<p>WEST
Claremont Colleges
Pomona
Claremont McKenna
Scripps
Occidental
Reed
Whitman</p>

<p>SOUTH
Davidson
Rice (only 2900 undergrad)
Emory
Elon -- don't knock it till you seen it
Guilford -- hippy
U Richmond
Suwanee
Rhodes</p>

<p>U Richmond has interesting prelaw deal -- have good SAT's you are in their law school -- no kidding.</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins, and agree about U Rochester.</p>

<p>Colby, Holy Cross, Bates, and Brandeis.</p>

<p>A word of caution: some of the suggestions so far would not be "safer" (such as Rice, Haverford, or Hopkins). Similar to Tufts are: URochester, Emory, Carnegie Mellon (but not for the majors you are considering), and Brandeis. Going safer are Richmond and American U. Colby, Bates, and Davidson would be more LAC-like than Tufts.</p>

<p>Thanks, everybody, for all the great suggestions.
I think of Rochester more for engineering and sciences, but it is on our mental list, as is SUNY Geneseo. Saw Bowdoin earlier this spring and liked it a lot, though it is by no means 'backup' caliber. Vassar might also be one to see, though being older I still thought of it as a girls' school...</p>

<p>Rochester, Brandeis, GWU</p>

<p>Rochester has an excellent reputation for poli sci. On the graduate level, it's ranked 10th in the country.</p>

<p>Macalester is a good alternative to Tufts. It's in a city but with a campus, has an intellectual atmosphere, its poli sci department (and internships) are stong, and it emphasizes internationalism and study abroad. It's probably a bit easier to get into than Tufts, though not by much.</p>

<p>W&M - But, it is really hard to get into out of state...</p>