<p>hahahahah</p>
<p>this is kinda funny actually</p>
<p>i am officially throwing up my hands</p>
<p>WHO CARES!!!</p>
<p>i love tufts.......no matter what "prestige" or "yield" or "syndrome" people say it has......and that's what matters</p>
<p>Stanford played this syndrome very well this year. While HYPM all has lower yield, Stanford's yield hits record high.</p>
<p>To matrixdad: Your claim doesn't really make any sense.
The fact that the yield of one of the top five universities in the country went up a few percentage points is hardly backing for your assertion.</p>
<p>I really do think that essays and recommendations are very important. Two of my friends, that have pretty much the same academic and extra cirricular background as I do, did not get into Tufts. They did however both get into Northwestern, where I was waitlisted. I personally think that my Tufts essays were the best ones that I wrote, definitely better than my Northwestern essays.</p>
<p>^ Essays and recs seem pretty important IMO, because my SAT's weren't amazing (660 in math, 1390 on old) but my recommendations seemed rather solid. </p>
<p>But what I think is also very very important is senior first quarter grades. In fact that's why I was waitlisted - my guidance counselor was curious and called Tufts, asked why I was waitlisted. They liked my application but the one thing holding me back were my grades in <em>one</em> class. Yeah.</p>
<p>Is that a joke Matrixdad? Stanford is one of the top schools in the nation!</p>
<p>To MatrixDad: It is ridiculous to make this assumption, especially based only on the few statistics posted online and personal bias. </p>
<p>Tufts' application has a very long essay portion for a reason. If they could tell through your writing that you only wanted to apply because you needed a "safer" school, then they probably made the decision not to accept you. While some instances of "Tufts Syndrome" may occur, I don't think we can truly judge how important yield was in the acceptance process since we were not in the room when the decisions were made.</p>
<p>Just because you have the statistics, and are accepted to other top schools, doesn't mean that you automatically should receive acceptance to other high-level schools. Each school looks for students that would be good "fits" and even if you have the "qualifications" you might not be what the school is looking for. </p>
<p>I was rejected from Swarthmore, but I was accepted to Pomona (a top LAC). If I followed the reasoning that some posters above stated, then this would be an example of Tufts syndrome, since I was obviously "qualified" to attend...but rather it just means that I wasn't what Swarthmore was looking for for its Class of 2012. </p>
<p>Tufts is an amazing school...and test grades are not the only factor.</p>
<p>I think that Tufts does look for students that fit into the university.
I'm guessing that they look for students with significant community service
and a global perspective. They want students that are going to contribute
to the university and the community. It's not just about grades and SAT scores. I think this is true at most colleges. They really do consider the entire
person.</p>
<p>A few years ago, some PhD students crunched the acceptance numbers and suspected that Princeton, among other schools, was rejecting people they felt would go somewhere else. However, it was just their study.</p>
<p>I recalled a Seinfeld episode where Elaine states:</p>
<p>ELAINE: Hey, I went to Tufts! That was my safety school! So don't talk to me about hardship.</p>
<p>So I guess it is a well known item in society.</p>
<p>Wow, maybe I should quote from a "Friends" episode, but that like Seinfeld would be dated info.</p>
<p>I don't understand why students are so baffled when they see others with high scores are rejected. Im mean seriously, go onto collegeboard and you will see that the average SAT scores are definitely on the high side.</p>
<p>My impression is that every school practices Tuft Syndrome now to protect their yield percentages. If you do not show serious interest and are overqualified, you will be waitlisted. Tufts gets the credit simply because they were the pioneer.</p>
<p>Except Tufts has overenrolled quite a few times over the past few years, so I don't think that's a concern.</p>
<p>i think what tufts needs to do is do the opposite of what the syndrome suggests... instead of rejecting kids who probably won't attend because they are "too good" (which is garbage cuz Tufts dominates), they should accept kids like myself who arent good enough.. actually scratch that... just accept me...</p>
<p>HOLY CRAP, I"M FROM SAN FRANCISCO TOO!
Accept me too :P</p>
<p>Best friend got into penn, princeton, cornell, georgetown and UVA
wait-listed at tufts</p>
<p>Other classmate got into tufts, rejected from all of the above schools (but didn't apply to UVA)
-Tufts Syndrome-</p>
<p>I don't blame the school for doing it though. Another friend the same year as me got <em>rejected</em> from Tufts and goes to Yale now. There was no one in the top 5% from my high school who got into Tufts (who applied). It was uncanny and we often all joked about it and made fun of them (mockingly).</p>
<p>But who is going to give up going to an Ivy (or other elite school) for Tufts?</p>
<p>Moral of the story: Tufts Syndrome probably exists, but they shouldn't be criticized for it. It's there prerogative. Tufts is a great school but not considered elite, and what they are doing might not be fair, but it is smart (on their part).</p>
<p>
[quote]
But who is going to give up going to an Ivy (or other elite school) for Tufts?</p>
<p>Moral of the story: Tufts Syndrome probably exists, but they shouldn't be criticized for it. It's there prerogative. Tufts is a great school but not considered elite, and what they are doing might not be fair, but it is smart (on their part).
[/quote]
Reputation-wise it may not be on the elite level of the Ivys, but there are certainly few other schools that could be considered more elite. There are a fair amount of people who give up going to Ivys or other top schools to go to Tufts realizing that there's more to a school than reputation.</p>
<p>I agree with hebrewhammer.<br>
Moreover, the Ivies are not all equally "elite." You cannot suggest, for example, that Cornell is as "elite" as HYP. That would be ridiculous. And there are plenty of non-Ivies that are as highly or more highly regarded as several of the Ivies, e.g., Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Wash U, Stanford, Berkeley, UVa.<br>
Do I think that Tufts is as "elite" as HYP? Certainly not. Could I understand someone preferring to spend his/her 4 college years at Tufts (or some of the other non-Ivies listed above) rather than at HYP? Absolutely. And how about Cornell, or even Penn? Even more so. I think a number of kids pick Tufts over Cornell.
These are all fine schools; it's just a question of different strokes etc.</p>
<p>With respect to whom Tufts admits, part of the admission process concerns making a careful calculation not only as to who is qualified, but who would fit in well if they attended and, finally, how many candidates can be offered admission. That being the case, I would assume that there would be little reason to admit someone who you thought would be unlikely to accept the offer of admission.</p>
<p>I have one D who graduated from Cornell and my other D just applied ED II to Tufts. Second D is a much stronger applicant, and yet has made Tufts her first choice. Why? Because, as she says, she can picture herself there. She had a very visceral reaction to Tufts, and even though the Ivy schools she visited have beautiful campuses, etc., she would prefer Tufts over an Ivy (not just because of Tufts beautiful campus). I respect her judgment in this and am proud that she wants a school that some may consider less elite, because she is not concerned with "name brands" or "labels."</p>