<p>For the most intrepid forum goers, you can run a Google search and find advice on how to approach the Why Tufts question - a question that shouldn't be so daunting, except that you must answer it in a limited space (if you want to know why: ask, I'll tell you). Since both of the other required essays have a thread running, it seemed ok to give the Why Tufts one as well. </p>
<p>Tell the admissions office why Tufts would make you proud.</p>
<p>Maybe Tufts is your first choice, maybe it isn't. Where a school falls on your list doesn't matter when you answer this question; if you are admitted and you come to Tufts, will you show up on campus fired up about the experience? My own college search led me to Tufts because it was a medium sized school near a city but not in a city. And I hate driving, so Boston' subway was important to me. These are totally reasonable criteria for a college search, but let's be honest: those aren't reasons to be proud of a Tufts education. One doesn't get on the roof to shout, "FINALLY! I WILL LIVE IN SUBURBAN BOSTON!!" I don't ride the subway and think, "Damn, I am so proud to be on this train." But Tufts is a place that instills pride in me as an alum, and a place that (I hope) instills pride in its students. Try talking about why Tufts would instill pride in you.</p>
<p>Beyond that, do whatever you want with this space. Full sentences, sentence fragments, lists, whatever. You could say way WAY more than 50 words), but you don't need to, and trust admissions officers to understand that the space constraint means that sometimes you bend (break?) the rules to express what you feel. There are so many ways to approach this question and still get it right. You can be as specific as the musical instrument design minor or as broad as the campus-wide awareness of global impacts. You can talk about the tiny moments that let you feel at home - a professor who took the time to talk to you or the Mario Kart reenactment that ran past your tour. Use that small space to explain what you would be most excited to experience.</p>
<p>Hi Dan, thanks for the advice.
For the second and third questions, is it alright to be around 50 words over or under the limit? Because for me, I have a little bit under 300 words, but I feel that every sentence is an important component to my overall response. Will the admissions officers penalize me and anyone who exceeds the 250 word limit?</p>
<p>We’re not counting the words (who has time for that?), but you should stay as close as you can to the limit. A good litmus test is to hold up your essay - standing, say, 10 paces away - and ask your English teacher, “Does this look longer than 250 words?” </p>
<p>If, without reading it, someone can glance at your paper and feel reasonably confident that you’ve gone over the limit, you’re likely too long. But if you’re close, and it sounds like you aren’t so far off, you’ll be ok.</p>
<p>There really is no typical. And even if there was, I’m not sure that would be helpful as a reference for what you ought to do. The above advice holds, even three years later.</p>
<p>(Aside: This is an old thread, and the new Common Application is much more stringent with word limits).</p>
<p>morkel, if it were me, I’d look over the Tufts website and see what you like best about Tufts. That’s the right answer for you - for everyone it’s going to be different. Different schools emphasize different things in their websites - what is it about the way Tufts presents itself that appeals to you?</p>
<p>thankyou mathmom, but every where I look regarding answers to this question, I find people talking about their visits to tufts, their talks with tufts’ faculty, life in boston, and so on. All I know is that tufts would be a good univ for me to pursue my engineering dreams. please help</p>
<p>Ok, so I am not a professional, just a parent. Neither of my daughters Why Tufts essays talked about visiting campus, and both could have been written by someone who had never been there. Let go of that preconception. Try the 5 why method. Ask yourself 5 layers of why is that important/true for you to uncover the deeper answer. For example: Why tufts- good engineering school for me - why - engineering school mixes with A&S - why- want to take music classes- why- don’t want to give up my trumpet- why -music soothes my soul. Obviously made up data, but try it a few times and you may uncover the detail and personal aspect you are looking for. Then write it up a little light hearted.</p>
<p>No don’t look at sample essays. Look at what Tufts is telling you about themselves. How do they present themselves? Just some examples. Look at the Gen Ed requirements - they are more detailed than lots of places. Why? Look at the language requirement - what does that tell you about Tuft’s position on the importance of looking past the United States? Look at the clubs. Which ones appeal to you and why? Look at the Global Leadership Institute activities. Does anything there appeal to you? </p>
<p>I admit my son wrote about visiting Tufts, but you know what he said he liked about Tufts? Chalk. He liked that advertisements for events were written on the sidewalks. He picked one quirky thing, because he’s a quirky kid and he likes giving the non-obvious answer. That answer told you a lot about him, but it also showed that he’d paid attention. I’m sure if it was an appropriate thing, you could probably find something equally silly on the website - though I don’t recommend it, unless the rest of your application playing up that aspect of you. If you are serious scholar student, you might want to look more at academic offerings. If you are political type, I can tell you I hear Tufts professors interviewed all the time on NPR. If you are musical - did you watch Glee? There are a million reasons to like Tufts without having visited. You surely put it on your list for more reasons than just it’s position on some silly list of good universities in the US.</p>