<p>1) How is the social life at Tufts? </p>
<p>2) Is it easy to fit in? Does everyone have a good time? </p>
<p>3) Are there a lot of parties or do people mostly go into Boston?</p>
<p>4) How strongly do you recommend the school</p>
<p>5) Would you recommend Tufts over BC, Georgetown, NYU, and Northwestern? (I live in NY)</p>
<p>Hi there, I'll answer in order.</p>
<p>1) I think that the social life at Tufts is very similar to most LACs and higher-ranked universities in the Northeast: kids study, but they also want to have a good time. In the winter, it may seem like less people are around campus, but that's because they're all in staying warm, and most of the time they're hanging out together indoors.</p>
<p>2) It's not so much a question of fitting in, because Tufts is a very diverse school. That being said, you'll certainly find people who are into exactly what you are, no matter how obscure the interest. Personally, half my friends are into things I have no real vested interest in, but that's what makes our friendships that much more exciting.</p>
<p>3) There are a lot of parties off-campus and when the frats are going, they have their shindigs as well. Lots of people go into Boston (there are so many other college students to hang out with! One-third of all Beantown residents are college students; that's why they call it the "Athens of America.") but keep in mind that Boston only becomes 100% accessible once you're 21; the downside to it being such a college town is that they're used to seeing fake ID's so it's hard to get one by.</p>
<p>4) I strongly recommend Tufts. I've been having a great time. It's just the right size: big enough where I don't feel like I know everyone, but small enough where I always run into someone I know or someone who knows someone I do. I feel like I would've felt like just another ant at a larger school (like Cornell, Penn, etc.) and I would've been too bored at a smaller, academically-comparable school (Amherst, Swarthmore, etc).</p>
<p>5) I would say that BC is a safety school for most kids who go here. My college counselor (who wouldn't even let me apply there) and many people I've spoken to seem to see BC as a preppy, jock-dominated school with overrated academics. As far as NYU, most people at Tufts who applied to NYU got in but still picked NYU (I am one of them). I feel Tufts is certainly a stronger school (unless you want to study film). When it comes to Georgetown and Northwestern, also schools I got into, I think they're on the same level as Tufts in most respects.</p>
<p>I think lolabelle meant that she picked Tufts over NYU. I picked Tufts over NYU-Stern - if you want business, go to Stern, but otherwise I like Tufts better. The size is more what I wanted, and the fact that there was no campus was a huge turnoff. G-town SFS is amazing, but I got the idea that G-town would be too homogeneous for me (that goes quadruple for BC.) Northwestern as far as I know is a great school, but I didn't apply b/c it'd have been too far (i'm in NJ). But basically I echo everything else lolabelle said</p>
<p>Thank you, you guys were extremely helpful. I'm definitely trying to narrow it down from Georgetown, NYU, and Tufts to 1 so I can apply Early Decision. These schools seem to be pretty similar except for the "lack of campus" at NYU. </p>
<p>What was the overwhelming factor that helped you make your decision in the end? (other that the academics because the schools on my list all have great academics)</p>
<p>Oh and what is the general concensus on the dating scene at this school for guys? Are many of the girls regarded as being good-looking? Are they thought of as arrogant? Is there an actual dating scene...what goes on?</p>
<p>bluirinka: Thanks for catching the typo -- I <i>did</i> mean I picked Tufts over NYU (in addition to Nwestern & Gtown). </p>
<p>nyyankees: Since I got into all schools you're considering, and picked Tufts, I feel I am in an especially good position to lobby for you to do the same thing. ;-) Just kidding -- I'll give you my own personal reasons and then you make of it what you will. NYU does not have especially strong liberal arts in my opinion. It's good for pre-business and for film, both of which I was not at all interested in. Also the lack of campus was really depressing. Northwestern is a much better school than NYU, but since I was really interested in good liberal arts plus a really good IR/PoliSci/Govt program, I cut Nwestern out and was between Gtown and Tufts. When it came to their IR programs, both are top-notch, but I definitely feel that Tufts' liberal arts beat Gtown's: they only have about 7 majors in their College, while Tufts has over 30. Also, I agree with bluirinka's assessment that Gtown is more homogenous than Tufts. In addition, I liked the feel of Boston a lot more than D.C. Let us know your thoughts as you move along the process!</p>
<p>Hate to say this, but DC OWNS Boston.</p>
<p>thanks lolabelle you've been very helpful :)</p>
<p>My pleasure -- curious to find out what you decide to do as I was in the same position four years ago! (Wow, how time flies, I'll be a graduate soon!)</p>
<p>Some thoughts...</p>
<p>I know that this info is about 7 years old, but, in my high school, people who applied to (and got into) NYU were not remotely BC material, let alone Tufts material. Yes, it's risen a lot in the past few years, but that seems to make it overrated (except for arts & business). </p>
<p>You'll get a different atmosphere at Tufts and Georgetown. If you're a guy, you'll find a zillion hot girls at G-town (just throwing that out there). They are both in/near cities, but in incredibly different areas. Boston, as a whole, is a very safe city, but very different from DC. Tufts is also easily accessible to downtown Boston; G-town is either a bus or a cab (cabs are madly expensive in DC) because the subway doesn't go out there.</p>
<p>I think you'll also get a difference in atmosphere - Georgetown is still a very Catholic school, where the availability of birth control is a hotly debated topic. </p>
<p>As for DC v. Boston - well, DC actually has nightlife. :) And happy hour. And a Metro that goes places. And free museums, the Mall, a zillion intern opportunities... okay, okay, I'm a native Bostonian but prefer DC.</p>
<p>It's SO easy to meet people here at Tufts, I'm a Freshman this year, and I've met a TON of people already. A large majority of the student body is quite laid back and very friendly....it's good stuff...</p>
<p>I agree with Duffman! One of the reasons I picked Tufts was because I wanted a school large enough that the faces won't get stale and I'll be able to keep meeting new people, but small enough that I didn't feel lost. I also found that schools like GWU and NYU that were in the middle of the city without a real campus really turned me off. Tufts has a great, pretty campus with grass/trees etc, but it's <em>so</em> easy to get into Boston - much easier than I expected! Just catch the Joey which drops you off <em>right</em> in front of the T-Stop.
I personally thought Georgetown's campus was kind of ugly, building-wise. But DC is pretty cool, I guess.
One question you might want to ask yourself if you're choosing between BC and Tufts is if you want a sports school, meaning do you want a school where people get really exciting about the football team or whatever? If you can't tell from my wording, I really didn't so Tufts works out well for me. That's not to say that we don't have great sports teams, but it's not like people go out to all the games or anything.
Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Thanks sam... Although i love sports more than anyone, sports had nothing to do with my college choice and i'm proud of myself for that :)</p>
<p>I have FINALLY decided in the last couple days to apply to Tufts ED. This was pretty stressful but i can now finally relax :)</p>
<p>congratulations! good luck!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I guess it all depends on the background. I'm not exactly sure what folks on this board mean when they say "diverse." I doubt there is anyway in the world that what is essentially a New England Liberal Arts College could be characterized in any true sense of the word as "diverse." To suggest that Tufts could some how be more diverse than a school (NYU) sitting in the middle of Manhattan is lunacy beyond description.</p>
<p>You'll be a little out of place here if you come from a working class background for sure, I'd imagine even moreso if you were an African American. There is nothing that screams diversity about Tufts. Diversity is about alot more than how many foreign students one school possesses despite the general perception here to the contrary. Diversity has way, way, way more to do with life experience than it does any of these other dubious stats like race, country of origin, religion, etc. </p>
<p>That's what most seem to forget that despite the fact that this kid is from Brazil, this one from Connecticutt, this other kid is Moslem and this one is Asian that they all are generally speaking the same people, from the same environment with the same types of experiences and relatively speaking the same outlook on life, politics, education, etc. </p>
<p>People aren't hostile, but they're not very open either, but this is just my humble opinion. First impressions stick with you and you'll be isolated from a good portion of the student body instantaneously if you diverge from the norms. I've found that there isn't alot of substance behind that "I want to meet different people" statement I've heard uttered so many at time.</p>
<p>But it all depends and it's not a matter of anyone being snooty or anything. Kids from Long Island/Cape Cod are going to want to hand out and will get along best with kids from Long Island/Cape Cod. S'just the way it is. If you think you fit relatively to somewhat into this category then you'll be fine at Tufts :)</p>
<p>...if not I'm not so sure</p>
<p>I disagree. I have friends from all over the world and country of very different socio-economic backgrounds. I myself am on 50% financial aid in grants alone, plus some loans, and I have several friends who pay full-tuition and an equal amount of friends who are paying less than $5,000/year.</p>
<p>Diversity is great here. We're a top 10 school for Hispanic and LGBT students according to Hispanic Magazine and The Advocate, respectively. The Jewish population is large, as are the many ethnicities of Asians, and, of course, the international population is massive (which incl. foreigners and Americans who lived abroad at the time of application to Tufts). Tufts is a top 10 school for the ABC program (A Better Chance) which brings talented inner city black students to top schools (just fyi: Tracy Chapman was an ABC student at Tufts). The campus is overwhelmingly liberal -- it is Boston! -- but there is a vibrant, well-organized conservative community as well.</p>
<p>Btw, Rightbackatyou should've said that he wants to transfer out of Tufts, in terms of full-disclosure. I'm sorry you haven't had the awesome experience so many of the rest of us has had but you've got to wonder if maybe you're the one who expects too much or has a negative outlook seeing you transferred to Tufts from somewhere else already -- that'll be two transfers, buddy.</p>
<p>Yeah, that's cool.</p>
<p>I'm not going to doubt that you have a very diverse group of friends. Personally I go out of my way to meet new people but I've been dissapointed by the fact that at Tufts experiences such as what you're describing are not the norm. That has been perhaps my biggest letdown here, the fact that it's very clique-ish. I thought Tufts would be the exact polar opposite.</p>
<p>I mean granted, America is still somewhat divided on racial lines but that division is exacerbated here at Tufts for many and possibly even most. Same with the socio-economic divisions.</p>
<p>I'm not much impressed by your understanding of diversity either. You can't just say "We're diverse, we have blacks" erat quod demonstrandum. It just doesn't work like that. Tufts is SOMEWHAT diverse in terms of ethnicity and possibly even economic background, but be honest, there isn't alot of intermingling going on here. </p>
<p>Again, race shouldn't even matter when it comes to diversity. What an arbitrary, useless, not to say RACIST way of viewing an individual.</p>
<p>But yeah I'm sure this all just unfounded bickering since I'm transferring, lol. I hardly think I expect too much out of Tufts. How is even possible to expect too much out of anything you're paying $40,000 for?</p>
<p>Hey Rightbackat you: I'm sorry you haven't had luck accumulating a diverse group of friends... I have, my experience is similar to what Kofi000 describes. Hope you find someplace that fufills your expectations.</p>
<p>Could you explain, though, why Kofi000's examples of diversity at Tufts don't signify diversity to you? I would think those are excellent example of racial, socio-economic, and geographic diversity.</p>
<p>I do have a diverse group of friends actually :)</p>
<p>It's just that everyone else either doesn't or doesn't desire to that really has been depressing to me. I've met literally dozens who feel the same way. Maybe my observations are not representative of the majority, but based on the number of folks I've met and became friends with who confirmed the same thing I don't think it's unwise to suggest that a considerable portion of people here could be classified as unwilling to diverge from their little clique.</p>
<p>And I'm not saying KofiOOO's experience isn't diverse, in fact I agree that it was. I'm just saying you shouldn't use race as a measure of diversity and that most folks at Tufts come from similar backgrounds regardless of what country they came from. Shoot, just look at where Tufts draws it's students from on a national level...Mostly the Northeast and Mostly New England.</p>
<p>Really though, why are you two so sure that race means anything? How do you conclude that Tufts is diverse based on the fact that it has an Asian, Jewish, etc. communities? Don't you see how illogical that is?</p>
<p>I don't know, maybe it's just me but race doesn't mean a **** to me. I don't walk into rooms where there are people with different skin tones and immediately upon observing this conclude that I am in a diverse environment. Rediculous assertion. Really mother**** race. So tired of people worrying about that...sorry, I'm ranting here.</p>
<p>Yes, there are alot of international students here but they're all from upper middle class-extremely wealthy backgrounds. Obviously, I mean they're attending university in another country!!! So given the fact that a good portion of the American students at Tufts come from an upper middle class-extremely wealthy background I don't see how geography would have anything to do with diversity either.</p>
<p>On top of that Tufts is overwhelmingly liberal!!! As in, like 95% of the people here are going to have the same political perspective on everything. And please don't suggest that the 15 people of Tufts Republicans can reasonably be expected to counter this liberal bias in the classroom.</p>