<p>Yeah, I agree with you WCAS. Rochester and Tufts may share some aspects, but Tufts is significantly harder to get into -- at least at my school, and, frankly, the high schools all my Tufts friends went to.</p>
<p>"Likelies," huh? I like the sound of that. </p>
<p>And picking a school is about fit, not selectivity. If your daughter is happy at UR, then I'm pleased she had the personal awareness to ignore the less significant factors (like selectivity) and pick the school where she felt comfortable and challenged.</p>
<p>Tufts is right up there academically with Northwestern and WashU and seems to have the laid back feel of Brown with driven students of Yale.
I don't really understand why it doesn't have the same national name recognition as other schools, but if you ask those around the country who are well educated, they'll be impressed with a Tufts degree.</p>
<p>I think a lot of folks posting on this thread confuse and/or equate selectivity with academic strength. They are not equivalent by a long shot. Comparing Tufts to Northwestern and WashU may very well hold for <em>some</em> academic departments, sure, but not in general/overall by any stretch. One can take say, engineering for example. Tufts doesn't play in the same league as NW. Tufts doesn't play in the same league for engineering with many (lowly, if we are to use your selectivity == academic powerhouse assumption) state schools. Just because the state schools admit just about anyone and have very lax selectivity standards doesn't mean that there aren't dozens of MIT caliber students there. And the classes aren't dumbed down to the lowest student ability there, they just fail those kids out instead...</p>
<p>As far as laid back students go, from what I've read on these forums from Tufts students I get a sense that Tufts students are exactly the opposite: very uptight and defensive.</p>
<p>Just my opinion, of course.</p>
<p>Haha, that's because people who go on CC are all crazy-like, I feel like the Tufts population is misrepresented - if it makes you feel better, there are like, what, 15 kids who post here regularly? 5000 other kids are too laid back to try to advertise their school online :)</p>
<p>I'll also add that those who are truly well educated won't be impressed just because of the name of the school you attended. Not trying to pick fights here, but I'm kind of shocked by some of the stuff I'm reading. Maybe I'm just too easily shocked. <shrugs></shrugs></p>
<p>Rochester, Tufts, JHU. Different name recognition levels, but many similarities. All excellent, regardless of selectivity.</p>
<p>We could add Rice, Case-Western Reserve to Rochester, JHU and Tufts. They are all very similar in kind -- small, relatively focused, research-based universities with strong undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that one should be impressed by a name but it's naive to think that it doesn't happen. You hear someone went to Yale and you're impressed by that fact. It doesn't actually make them better than any student at any state school, but the name holds weight. Obviously more people know about the Ivies, ect but Tufts is a school that does, in many circles, even if not with the general public, hold weight. </p>
<p>And of course you're right that Tufts can't be considered at the same caliber as other schools when going department by department- I don't think any school can say that across the board each department is among the best. At least for me and the programs that I am interested in- IR- Tufts is among the best in the nation. Obviously what's important to each student varries, but in certain aspects Tufts really should be, and in many cases is already, compared to these schools with national reputations</p>
<p>and I don't even go to Tufts...</p>
<p>I'm not considering anything IR related for a major, but I'm curious -- what do people <em>do</em> with an IR degree? It's not like anyone in the business world (aka the "real" world) is hellbent on hiring IR majors....so IR majors aspire to policy and government jobs or maybe law school? Ewww!!!! ;)</p>
<p>Furthermore, isn't IR basically an amalgamation of economics, political science, history, and language? Kinda weird how Tufts is considered one of the tops in IR but isn't considered anywhere near the top in these more basic fields that actually make up the foundation of IR. <scratches head...=""></scratches></p>
<p>on a really really basic level- IR is the study of the previously mentioned subjects and how they correlate- most people choose specific topics like global economy, human rights, area studies, ethnic studies, the list goes on and on. The thing about IR is that it is basically analytical problem solving, theory and practice. Yes many IR majors want to go into politics, government, NGOs, ect... but law schools, employers, ect... love IR students because they have developed the necessary problem solving skills to become successful. Someone studying global economy might go into the business world, human rights- law, health in developing nations- med school, depending on your concentration you can go into a lot of different fields with a more unique view of the situation than someone who only did premed courses, only business, you get it...</p>
<p>because it is the combination of various programs, some places have excellent individual programs but not IR, or an excellent IR program and not amazing individual programs</p>
<p>Smells like horse manure to me, but that's just moi. </p>
<p>Thanks for elaborating...</p>
<p>billy<em>da</em>kid,</p>
<p>Well, I happen to be a grad student at an IR program, and I'll give you some jobs recent grads have gotten: Deloitte, Cornerstone, Sony, HP, Blackrock, Credit Suisse...</p>
<p>Those "real enough" for you?</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's not like anyone in the business world (aka the "real" world) is hellbent on hiring IR majors
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So medicine, law, etc. aren't the "real" world? The government isn't "real?"</p>
<p>C'mon...</p>
<p>The anecdote game is kinda lame, doncha think? My next door neighbor didn't graduate from HS but now he owns a multimillion dollar business. I don't draw any conclusions from that, though.</p>
<p>Statistics are meaningless to the individual, and anecdotes are meaningless to the population.</p>
<p>But you missed my point, I suspect. My point is that your degree has little bearing on what you do, if you want it badly enough. Only very specialized fields care about your specific degree type.</p>
<p>Otherwise, you can get a degree in English and become an i-banker if you supplement it with the right courses.</p>
<p>billy<em>da</em>kid, you don't seem to even be interested in Tufts so why are you antagonizing the people on this thread?</p>
<p>I'm going to politely ask thread participants to continue posting deliberately in here. I'm open to debate on the reputation of Tufts or any other school, but arguments for arguments sake aren't helpful or informative. For the most part, this thread contains helpful discourse, and I'd like to keep it that way. To the well meaning posters - use your better judgment and continue posting in an intelligent way without getting bogged down by contentious nature.</p>
<p>not that it matters, but are you guys aware that for the entering class, only 80 percent are in the top 10 percent of their class. That represents a drop from the previous class I believe. I think that such a stat is not really reflective of a school's quality (SATs mean much more in my opinion). However, this will cause its selectivity rank to drop next year in US News because it counts for like 40 percent of the total selectivity rank. That is why a school like UChicago (only 80 or so in top 10 percent) has such a low selectivity rank (always beyond 20) despite its pretty high sat average.</p>
<p>When you think of Tufts, what other similar schools come to mind? For me:</p>
<p>Harvard (because of proximity)
Brandeis University
Clark University
University of Rochester
Johns Hopkins University
Case-Western Reserve University
University of the Redlands
University of the Pacific</p>
<p>BalletGirl, I'm curious why you consider Tufts and Univ. of Redlands similar. In what ways, do you think?</p>