Hi guys, as we approach May 1, I come to you for advice to help me pick between Tufts and Brandeis.
I want to major in Econ or maybe Engineering, and although I know Brandeis doesn’t technically have an engineering program, I heard the Econ is great there. In addition, Tufts will cost about 15k more a year, but my family has assured me that the difference will not make a BIG difference on them, per se.
At Brandeis, I would be saving money, and getting my BA/MA in 5 years for CHEAPER than 4 undergrad years at Tufts. However, I feel that I am more drawn a little more towards Tufts and the campus/student life.
If anyone had any input on the rigor, alumni network, social life, etc that could help me narrow down my search, I would be forever grateful.
Thanks.
Tufts easily beats Brandeis in all the aspects you’ve mentioned (rigor, alumni network and social life) and Tufts student are some of the friendliest people I’ve met. Since 15k per year wouldn’t make a big difference to your parents, I’ll definitely go with Tufts. Also since you might potentially be an Engineering major, Tufts will be a better choice in that regard. I also have some tough decisions to make over the school I’ll be attending as I’ve not yet committed to Tufts.
Though not really related, the food at Tufts is incredibly awesome! Seriously, Check out Dewick or Carmichael.
I studied engineering at Tufts and my brother studied economics (and pre-med) at Brandeis. I think overall the student bodies at both schools are somewhat similar, although I feel like Tufts has a nicer campus and I think Medford/Somerville is a little better situated than Waltham if you’re interested in getting off campus much.
My brother has done very well in the four or so years since he left Brandeis (he spent some time doing management consulting, then consulting for a health insurance company, and now working for a healthcare startup). My impression was that he felt as though he got a somewhat lucky break getting his first job (it’s a little tougher to break into consulting for a first job without an ivy league degree) but otherwise I’m honestly not sure how he feels about the alumni network. I think he enjoyed Brandeis overall (he transferred there from Conn College).
If you think you may want to study engineering then I would say you’d be much, much better off at Tufts. My understanding (at least when I was applying) was that Brandeis had an arrangement allowing you to pursue some sort of engineering certificate at Olin but I would think that would be much more difficult (and less valuable) than actually getting a full engineering degree and having access to labs, professors, and classmates on the campus you live at. You can read some of my history for more detail about my experience at Tufts but overall I had a great time and felt very well prepared for graduate school in engineering.
In terms of “rigor”, Tufts offers a major in quantitative economics which provides the highly analytic component that is important for the junior analyst positions in finance and consulting. Due to the strong IR program, there are also a wide range of economics (and other) courses available to provide the “global perspective” required for these positions.
On the economics alumni side, about 10 years ago, a group of Tufts alums in the finance industry got together and organized the Tufts Financial Network. Part of the network is a student run group called the Tufts Financial Group (TFG) and an investment club that manages an alumni seeded fund that has grown to $130M. The investment club recently won a national investing competition. The TFG has also helped create a minor in finance by funding an additional professor with industry experience and supports seminars and recruiting events. Ties to JP Morgan are particularly strong (the CEO is a Tufts alum) and a Tufts alum was recently elected to Forbes “30 under 30” for co- managing a $9B portfolio at JP Morgan.
http://emerald.tufts.edu/alumni/tfn/about.html
http://tuftsfinancialgroup.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Tufts-Financial-Group-521743821191249/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-05-14/big-execs-on-campus
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2008-05-14/meet-your-new-recruits-they-want-to-eat-your-lunch
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/1795647-tufts-investment-club-places-first-in-national-investing-
competition.html
http://as.tufts.edu/news/2015Forbes.htm
On the engineering/business alumni side, over the last few years alums have been getting involved through the Tufts Entrepreneurial Network to support various venture competitions, a venture fund, seminars and networking events. This seems like a good opportunity to recruit @hebrewhammer 
as we are actively growing this initiative,
http://gordon.tufts.edu/programs/entrepreneurial-leadership-program/tufts-entrepreneurial-network
http://gordon.tufts.edu/competitions/100k-new-ventures-competition
http://archive.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2013/12/tufts_venture_fund_will_supply.html
http://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/former-pepsi-co-president-and-apple-ceo-john-sculley-keynote-alan-shapiro
http://engineering.tufts.edu/alumni/events.htm
There is also the Fletcher network that has very strong government and business ties and sponsors many on campus events that are open to undergrads (the CEOs of Coca Cola and Pay Pal recently gave talks)
Getting plugged into all these networks would maximize your investment at Tufts, but you will have to use this and other information decide if it is worth the extra investment for your own personal situation.
Best of luck where ever you end up and remember that many Tufts (and other local school’s) events are open to students from the greater Boston community.