<p>I am wondering if any of you can help me. My child loves Tufts (foreign language requirement, community focus, academic rigor, humanity, core university values, near city, nice campus, good size undergrad) but will have a difficult time getting in. She has amazing extracurriculars, very solid scores, and good grades. I am wondering if any of you can suggest schools that are similar, yet less competitive to gain admissions. Thanks!</p>
<p>We are in the same boat with S2. In terms of nearness to a major city, good mix of students, great international programs— how about American U?</p>
<p>It’s only minimally less competitive, but I think Brandeis is similar to Tufts in a lot of ways.</p>
<p>I second hebrewhammer - plus, they have great fin aid policies/scholarships.</p>
<p>And American U is much less competitive… how about GWU?</p>
<p>Thanks! Any others? Any public Universities?</p>
<p>By nature I don’t think there could be public schools that meet those criteria. All the public colleges that rank anywhere near Tufts tend to be very large schools, which takes away from the community focus a little bit and is also very different from Tufts.</p>
<p>Do you think that BC is similar to Tufts?</p>
<p>Based on how many threads on both the BC forum and this forum have dealt with the similarities/differences between the two schools, I’d say there is no simple answer to this question! If you are asking strictly in terms of how hard it is to be admitted, I’d say Tufts is harder to get into, based purely on what I’ve heard from other families from our HS who had kids apply to both schools.</p>
<p>My final college choice this year came down to the BC Honors Program vs. Tufts. Having pondered the similarities and differences between these two schools quite a bit, I can give you a general rundown:</p>
<p>Tufts and BC are similar in that they are both medium-sized schools in the Boston suburbs with relatively strong national reputations. That’s where the similarities end, really. BC is religiously affiliated and centered more around football and beer, while Tufts has a much smaller sports scene and is mostly centered around academics and intellectual growth. This isn’t to say kids at BC aren’t intellectuals or that kids at Tufts have no social lives, but the focus of the campus community is the general difference between the two schools. BTW, I chose Tufts.</p>
<p>perhaps she’d be interested in Macalester in St. Paul, MN</p>
<p>that being said, being admitted to Tufts is not like being admitted elsewhere. Tufts is not looking to boost its stats. It is looking for interesting, qualified people to fill its class. Perhaps she will not have a hard a time getting in after all :)</p>
<p>but if you provided some stats, it would be easier to know where she’s at in terms of admissions…</p>
<p>I second American. My final choice came down to American’s Honors program with a full scholarship or Tufts. I’m happy having chosen Tufts, but I probably would have been just as happy at American (and not nearly as indebted). </p>
<p>I also looked at BC - they’re really not similar at all. </p>
<p>Liberal arts colleges would probably be your best bet in terms of the sorts of students you’d find.</p>
<p>Private Universities
University of Rochester
Univeristy of Richmond
University of the Redlands
University of the Pacific
Trinity University (TX)
Emory
Tulane
Brandeis</p>
<p>Private LACs
Macalester
Occidental
University of Puget Sound</p>
<p>Public Schools
William & Mary</p>
<p>william and mary is really hard to get into out of state.</p>
<p>I lived next to Tufts for many years and loved the attitude… </p>
<p>I love Elon in NC for many of the same reasons…</p>
<p>Does your child know what they want to major in ??? That may be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>what? elon has a completely different atmosphere, at least in my mind.</p>
<p>Can anyone detail the similarities between Tufts, Macalaster, and Emory. I have heard that Emory can be very superficially competitive and I don’t know anything about Macalaster. Do Emory and Macalaster have the type of access that Tufts does to the city.</p>
<p>For further info, my daughter was most impressed with the Tuft’s philosophy around language, giving back to the world (relating ones studies in a meaningful way to changing the world), perceived academic rigor and international diversity, as well as the marathon team training. In addition she liked the location and the campus. The lack of sports was a negative, but is second to her desire for other qualities. </p>
<p>Thanks for the help and any other schools that you can come up with!</p>
<p>Macalester and Emory are both in their respective cities. On the issue of competitiveness, you will find pockets of it at any top school. As well, most top schools pay, at least, lip service to idea that it wants its students to “change the world”. While it is a very important ethos and some school really infuse it in their students (check the percentage of graduates per capita that go into the Peace Corps and TFA as a proxy) for many it is simply politically-correct, marketing blather. It has been very au courant in the last several years. Tufts is not immune to this kind of claptrap. </p>
<p>There are lots of schools that can satify your daughter’s aspirations. Visits can help here. </p>
<p>I agree with skateboarder on W&M.</p>
<p>Here are the raw numbers on Peace Corps volunteers and the schools from which they come from, grouped into Large, Medium and Small Universities/Colleges categories. They are not normalized on a per capita basis.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/stats/schools2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/stats/schools2009.pdf</a></p>
<p>Tufts is not on the list.</p>
<p>Thank you for the insight and the link!</p>