<p>I used to really want to attend Tufts, but I recently developed worries about Tufts related to its campus. I heard crime was a really big problem on campus, but would that be mostly attributed to the Tufts campus in Boston? If so, then who attends school in the Tufts campus in Boston?</p>
<p>THe Boston campus is medical, dental, nutrition, etc. - NOT the undergrad school.
Crime is not a problem ON the undergrad campus, but obviously one must be careful about walking far off campus alone in the middle of the night. Frankly, this just is not a big issue, and I wouldn’t worry about it if you like Tufts.</p>
<p>Oh dear god not this. In my first semester at Tufts, I have not once felt unsafe in any way- and yes, I have been out at some pretty ungodly hours. The data that was released was completely flawed and does not reflect the environment of the Medford/Somerville campus at all. Definitely should not affect your decision.</p>
<p>Tufts main campus is a very nice community… Much better than most…</p>
<p>Tufts is extremely safe. I have heard people talking about this based on some report. Funny story: It actually ranked Harvard the 3rd most dangerous campus. Both are very untrue. Tufts undergraduate campus is actually in a nice community (same with Harvard’s). They also counted the same crimes for harvard and tufts. Seriously, I don’t think any student has ever felt unsafe at Tufts.</p>
<p>I’m obviously biased when it comes to Tufts, but I completely agree on the above comment. I live just off of Harvard’s campus and walk through it multiple times a day to get to the subway; if that’s unsafe, then we all should be wearing bulletproof vests everywhere we go. The list described could not be more flawed in its methodology or its results. </p>
<p>Shameful journalism.</p>
<p>thanks for all the comments! I’m leaning towards applying to Tufts now, but I was just wondering, what differentiates Tufts from other colleges, in your opinion?</p>
<p>Here is my own view on this: When you are looking at top colleges (which, if you are looking at Tufts, is likely the case), then you are pretty much guaranteed great academics. A strong liberal arts school will have a diverse set of majors and classes- and this is certainly the case at Tufts. Sure, some schools will have some areas in which they are better known for (at Tufts, probably IR), but in the end the academics come out as a wash. What made me choose Tufts is the type of students that it attracts. While everyone is clearly intelligent and invested in their academic pursuits, almost every student is just as active outside of the classroom as they are inside of the classroom. The community at Tufts is something that you will not come across at every top university. Kids here truly want to expand their knowledge into the “real world” and put to use what they learn in class. The atmosphere is not competitive, but instead it is very driven. I had the advantage of having a brother that went here a couple of years before me, so I was able to hang around and interact with students before I applied, and from those experiences I saw that the people that come here are pretty amazing. Even though I have only been here for less than a semester, I have multiple friends who have some pretty amazing ideas/goals for the future, and I have a pretty strong feeling many of them will become realities. It makes me pretty excited to be here, I have to say.</p>
<p>One thing that I find makes Tufts different from other schools is that it’s a research university which, because of its smallish size, has the intimate feel of a liberal arts college. Sort of the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>One of the reasons I ultimately decided to go to Tufts was my interviewer. I thought she was awesome. She was who I wanted to be when I grew up, essentially.</p>
<p>I have met people here who have been just as amazing. At the same time, I’ve met people I don’t connect with at all (like my roommate, unfortunately), but you’re probably going to find that sort of mix at any school you go to.</p>
<p>Before you make a decision, meet people from Tufts. It doesn’t matter if you love the campus, love your professors, and participate in every activity imaginable. If you don’t like the people, you’re going to be unhappy.</p>
<p>The people at Tufts tend to be smart, globally-conscious, and have something that they’re really geeky about, whether it’s sailing or radio. This does not in any way mean that Tufts is a school full of geeks (although there are geeks; I’m really geeky). A lot of people are very outgoing and self-confident, which can be bad if you’re not or awesome if you are.</p>
<p>Drinking is also a big thing on campus; be ready for that.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that feeling like a liberal arts college is not the same as being a liberal arts college. Tufts is a big school. Classes are large, especially in sciences. It can be hard to see people who you have met and liked. If you really want a liberal arts college, Tufts is not for you.</p>
<p>Tufts is like a liberal arts college in that you aren’t just a number. Professors actually do care about you (at least outside of intro science courses). When I was feeling down, my English teacher actually cared and met with me to talk. That really meant a lot to me.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought of Tufts as having a wonderful mix of people, so that you can gravitate towards the type of person or group with which you’d be most comfortable (or, for some people, not with whom you’d necessarily be most comfortable but who you find the most interesting).
I don’t think that drinking is really bigger at Tufts than at many other schools (outside of Brigham Young University). Dartmouth and Hamilton, for example, have Tufts beat cold on that front. The Big 10 schools in the midwest too.
Unfortunately, intro courses in the sciences (especially bio and chem) do tend to be very large, which is why there are smaller recitation sections each week with a TA (some of whom are great, some of whom are not).
I did want a liberal arts college-type experience, and loved Tufts. I just had to be the type of student who took control of my education, so that I wouldn’t be missing much from the liberal arts college experience. So I took plenty of smaller classes and did some independent studies with superb professors which were one-on-one, much like the Oxford/Cambridge tutorial experience. You just need to reach out and find the right mentor(s), and Tufts can be an exceptional experience.</p>
<p>I am currently in an Intro to Econ class that hass between 300-400 students in it, and I have actually gotten coffee (free at Tower!) with Professor Norman two times now. If you try to reach out, the Profs will always be there to help.</p>
<p>S2 reports that while there is definitely drinking, there is not pressure to do so, and there is plenty to do if one chooses not to drink.</p>
<p>Kackac, the large lecture in Econ has been an adjustment, to be sure, but I have heard good things about Prof. Norman. </p>
<p>S2 is involved with EPIIC and says they have become a very close-knit group. It’s intense, but he says the speakers, prof and his classmates are fantastic. He was bound and determined to go for the opportunities at Tufts, and so far, he has been very pleased.</p>
<p>My friend told me that they made a mistake on the intro to Econ class and that it was supposed to be half of the amount of current students. As a result, they just made it one class. I know others that told me they had an introduction to chem class with about 30 people including themselves…yet, apparently it was some sort of intro to chem if you had taking like AP chem or something in high school.</p>
<p>There was a mistake in the scheduling, but there was always only going to be one section. Basically they scheduled the class in a room that was too small, but the bigger room was being used by the Intro Bio class already, so they had to change the Econ scheduling block in order to get the larger auditorium.</p>
<p>thanks for all the input!</p>
<p>kackac, that’s exactly what my son told us about the Econ class, too.</p>
<p>I have a daughter in that Econ class. She said the prof has a great reputation and that is part of the reason so many kids signed up first semester. She loves the class despite the size.</p>
<p>Maybe we should encourage them to get together for a study group! :)</p>
<p>Yeah Prof Norman is really great, and I know he has some of the more desirable upper level classes as well. I’m looking forward to a smaller econ class next semester, as the kids who aren’t really paying attention can be pretty disruptive at times. For an intro class that could be pretty dry, Norman makes it accessible and interesting at least.</p>