Torn between two great schools

College Search & Selection
1

I’ve been accepted into NYU (CAS) and Tufts. Ideally, I want to major in Public Policy and minor in Statistics. NYU has a Public Policy major and a Data Science minor, and, looking at the curriculum, they seem great for my interests. Tufts has a PoliSci major, which, looking at the curriculum, interests me less, though I know I can specialize more in methodology.

As for a career, I’m a bit lost. I’d love to be a legislative aide to a politician, or work for a polling firm, or in public health or urban planning (two less likely options). From what I know, a Masters in Public Policy is ideal, so that may make what my undergrad major is less important, but I may also want to study for a Masters in Statistics. I really am not sure.

Curriculum-wise, NYU seems to be the better fit. From what I’ve seen, NYU is a very different environment. I love the city, but I don’t know if having no ‘bubble’ is too big a jump, I really love seeing college’s quads and green spaces (though I know there’s a park at NYU that functions as a quad). Tufts is right outside Boston, another city I love.

So basically the dilemma is: do I choose NYU, which seems better for me curriculum-wise (even though my major in undergrad may not matter as much in the job market when/if I get a Masters) but is fully meshed with NYC, or Tufts, a campus school just outside a city that doesn’t really have exactly what I want now.

I’m pretty sure I know what I want to study, there’s nothing that I’ve been interested in more than policy/statistics, but who knows? Apparently people change majors a lot of the time, but I think it’d take a pretty big shift to take me off that path(s).

Thank you for reading my question! :slight_smile:

2

First, congratulations on having two excellent choices!!

As you correctly wrote, people change their majors all the time. So it is rarely a good idea to choose a college based on a major, as opposed to which college feels like more of a match.

You have two excellent possibilities, but you seem to really like NYU more for more than one reason. I think that you may have already chosen, but want to ask whether you are making a wrong choice.

If that’s the case, I will say - I think that you should choose NYU. I think that you make a pretty good case that NYU is the better school for you.

3

Go to the school you think is the best fit. Nobody can/should answer this for you. I think you isolated the important things to consider.
–I would look at the course catalogues for both NYU and Tufts.

–Also consider the lack of a campus for NYU - if you want a traditional campus expereince see if you can find the courses at Tufts to make it work for you.

4

Can we assume both are affordable?

5

NYU, it has the program you want.

6

Do you want to go into the heart of the nation’s biggest hot spot at the height of a pandemic? Especially at a university where crowded city streets are your campus?

Tufts offers a more traditional liberal arts education in which your major is an academic discipline of focus. They save public policy study for grad school - even offer a 5 year bachelor’s/master’s combo.

What is a public policy major? Is it in fact a core academic discipline? Regardless of what it’s called, can you get the same combination of courses at Tufts? Is it better to have skills in a discipline like economics as a major first?

7

Yes, my expenses for both would be about the same.

8

Public policy implementation relies on the methods and insights of economics (as well as of political science and philosophy). Under this consideration, NYU would seem to represent your stronger academic option.

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html