<p>Which would you choose? Tufts or Georgetown? Why?</p>
<p>Depends what you’re planning to study</p>
<p>@rento3. What do you intend on studying? Describe a bit more about yourself, likes, dislikes, plans. I have a son who is a sophomore at Georgetown and my daughter just sent the deposit in for Tufts. We have a good deal of experience with both (great schools, congratulations!).</p>
<p>For my daughter- not sure yet of study but interested in economics, sustainability, business/management. Loves dance. Very fun kid, very social.</p>
<p>If your daughter is a very fun kid that loves to dance, then check the Tufts Dance Collective!</p>
<p>[About</a> | Tufts Dance Collective](<a href=“http://tuftsdancecollective.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/about/]About”>About | Tufts Dance Collective)</p>
<p>[F'12</a> 9:30 - Choreo Dance - YouTube](<a href=“F'12 9:30 - Choreo Dance - YouTube”>F'12 9:30 - Choreo Dance - YouTube)</p>
<p>[Swamped</a> TDC turns away hopeful dancers - News - Tufts Daily - Tufts University](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/news/swamped-tdc-turns-away-hopeful-dancers-1.2358227#.UXQjG0rD_EY]Swamped”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/news/swamped-tdc-turns-away-hopeful-dancers-1.2358227#.UXQjG0rD_EY)</p>
<p>Some more dance groups </p>
<p>[About</a> Sarabande](<a href=“http://ase.tufts.edu/sarabande/about.html]About”>http://ase.tufts.edu/sarabande/about.html)</p>
<p>[Tufts</a> Belly Dance](<a href=“Page Not Found - ASE - TUFTS UNIVERSITY”>Tufts Belly Dance)</p>
<p>[HOME</a> - Tufts Pulse](<a href=“http://tuftspulse.moonfruit.com/#/team/4562332207]HOME”>http://tuftspulse.moonfruit.com/#/team/4562332207)</p>
<p>[Team</a> Results | Tufts Ballroom Team](<a href=“http://sites.tufts.edu/ballroom/team-results/]Team”>http://sites.tufts.edu/ballroom/team-results/)</p>
<p>Tufts is not only fun, it also has a highly regarded (academically) drama and dance department with lots of dance classes</p>
<p>[Ranking</a> of Theater and Performance Studies Graduate Schools — PhDs.org Graduate School Guide](<a href=“http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/theater/rank/basic]Ranking”>http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/theater/rank/basic)</p>
<p>[Department</a> of Drama & Dance - Tufts University](<a href=“http://ase.tufts.edu/drama-dance/dance/courses.asp]Department”>Dance Program | Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies)</p>
<p>As far as the more mundane academic stuff goes, I think your daughter’s decision will come down to the relative mix she wants to achieve between business skills and a Economics/liberal arts degree, how interested she is in sustainability, whether she favors an entrepreneurial business focus or a traditional business focus and the value she places on a more intimate, undergraduate focused learning environment that fosters creativity. </p>
<p>Business is basically applied social sciences and it tends to focus on skills, so it tends to attract a more pragmatic crowd (less likely to be dancers). Economics deals more with the underlying theory behind the skills. Sustainability tends to match up better with economics and the two can be combined in the context of environmental studies.</p>
<p>The two schools have a very different approach to business education. Georgetown has a traditional Masters in Business Administration (MBA) program and an undergraduate business school that is separate from the liberal arts college (which is also separate from the school that houses international relations). Tufts has a specialized non-traditional Masters in Engineering Management (MSEM) Program offered through the engineering school and an undergraduate minor in Entrepreneurship and Leadership Studies (ELS). Tufts also has a specialized non-traditional Masters in International Business program offered through the Fletcher school, that does not have an undergrad program, but correlates with some of the strengths of the Economics department. </p>
<p>The MSEM program at Tufts was originally a stand-alone college created by a successful Tufts/MIT Entrepreneur (Bernie Gordon) to meet the needs (that were not being met by MBA programs) of high tech, entrepreneurial companies. Courses are taught by “professors of the practice” who have significant experience in industry (typically start-ups) rather than just academia. This program is virtually unknown in academia, but very highly regarded within the industry (companies typically pay to send employees). The environment/culture within start-ups tends to be both interdisciplinary (you have to wear more hats) and creative (you have to find new ways of doing things) which tends to align with Tufts’ environment/culture.</p>
<p>The Tufts ELS program is designed to complement a traditional liberal arts major (such as Economics) rather than replace it. Here is the information:</p>
<p>[The</a> Gordon Institute - Tufts University](<a href=“http://gordon.tufts.edu/entLeader/]The”>http://gordon.tufts.edu/entLeader/)
[The</a> Gordon Institute - Tufts University](<a href=“http://gordon.tufts.edu/entLeader/curriculum/index.asp]The”>http://gordon.tufts.edu/entLeader/curriculum/index.asp)
[Why</a> is the MIB unique? | Tufts Fletcher School](<a href=“http://fletcher.tufts.edu/MIB/Why_is_mib_unique]Why”>http://fletcher.tufts.edu/MIB/Why_is_mib_unique)</p>
<p>Another program related to you daughter’s interest in sustainability is Environmental Studies. Tufts has what I believe is a uniquely flexible program in that it allows you to study the environment from the perspective of any traditional discipline. Rather than attempting to create a standalone major with a just a few concentrations, the Environmental Studies major at Tufts is set up as a secondary major. It can be combined with any traditional major, which, in effect, allows the concentration to be in any discipline that Tufts has a major (i.e. around 70) including Economics. The major can be further tailored by selecting one of four tracks or by designing your own track.</p>
<p>[Curriculum</a> - Environmental Studies Program - Tufts University](<a href=“http://as.tufts.edu/environmentalstudies/curriculum/index.htm]Curriculum”>http://as.tufts.edu/environmentalstudies/curriculum/index.htm)</p>
<p>Environmental Science is big at Tufts as evidenced by these departments.
[GDAE[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“http://environment.tufts.edu/]Tufts”>http://environment.tufts.edu/]Tufts</a> Institute of the Environment -](<a href=“http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/about_us/gdae_overview.html]GDAE[/url”>http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/about_us/gdae_overview.html)</p>
<p>As far as Economics programs go, Tufts is less than half the size of Georgetown and is more undergraduate focused in that it does not grant Phds. As a result, it feels more like a liberal arts college than a research university. </p>
<p>In the particular areas of economics that relate to sustainability (environmental economics and energy economics), Tufts is particularly strong, offering a concentration in International Environmental Economics and ranking 40th and 31st in the world for research output - despite its small size and the lack of a phd. program. Georgetown ranks 38th for environmental and is unranked for energy. </p>
<p>Combining all specialties, Tufts was ranked #1 in the country for masters only Economics departments and #102 in the world for research output (competing against much larger, Phd. granting universities). In terms of overall research output, this places Tufts between Georgetown at #32 and Williams at #112 and Wellesley at #139 (which are the top ranked LACs). </p>
<p>Concentration in International Environmental Economics
<a href=“Homepage | International Relations Program”>Homepage | International Relations Program;
<p>Environ Econ Text
[GDAE</a> Harris Text](<a href=“Global Development And Environment Institute – Global Development And Environment Institute at Tufts University”>Global Development And Environment Institute – Global Development And Environment Institute at Tufts University)</p>
<p>Top Environmental, Energy Economics Research Programs
[Field</a> Rankings at IDEAS: Environmental Economics](<a href=“http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.env.html]Field”>Economics Field Rankings: Environmental Economics | IDEAS/RePEc)
[Field</a> Rankings at IDEAS: Energy Economics](<a href=“http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.ene.html]Field”>Economics Field Rankings: Energy Economics | IDEAS/RePEc)
[Rankings</a> at IDEAS: Economics Departments](<a href=“http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.econdept.html]Rankings”>Economics rankings: Economics Departments | IDEAS/RePEc)
[Tufts</a> to host international economics conference - Tufts Daily - Tufts University](<a href=“http://www.tuftsdaily.com/tufts-to-host-international-economics-conference-1.2055240#.UXRV80rD_EY]Tufts”>http://www.tuftsdaily.com/tufts-to-host-international-economics-conference-1.2055240#.UXRV80rD_EY)</p>
<p>Masters program rankings from a University of North Texas Department of Economics paper on promotion and tenure guidelines (2008):</p>
<p>“. The second comparison group is made up of the twenty best terminal Master’s programs in the US. A respected ranking of terminal master’s programs in economics can be found in Economic Inquiry (Scott and Mitias. 1996. “Trends in Rankings of Economics Departments in the US: An Update. Economic Inquiry 34:378-400). In many ways, this latter group is a more appropriate point of comparison. As noted above, these programs will have similar resources and similar teaching loads to ours. Faculty at these programs will also not have the opportunity to work with doctoral students on research.”</p>
<p>“ According to the American Economic Association, there are approximately 80 master’s-only programs in the U.S.
This list ranks all Ph.D. and Master’s Economics programs. From this list we determined that the top-20 terminal-Master’s programs are as follows (rankings are in parentheses): (1)Tufts, (2) Illinois State, (3) Miami (Ohio), (4) Montana State, (5) California State-Fullerton, (6) Maryland Baltimore, (7) University of Missouri – St. Louis, (8) Marquette, (9) University of Toledo, (10) Colorado at Denver, (11) San Diego State, (12) Trinity College, (13) Alaska – Fairbanks, (14) San Jose State, (15) California State-Los Angeles, (16) UNT, (17) Georgia Tech, (18) Virginia Commonwealth (19) East Carolina, (20) IUPUI.”</p>
<p>Tufts also has the Experimental College which offers a set of non-traditional courses that change every semester. </p>
<p>For example, this spring there was a course in social marketing, a course in microfinance and a couple of courses related to the environment. Some of my most memorable college classes were from the Experimental College…</p>
<p>[Tufts</a> University: The Experimental College](<a href=“http://www.excollege.tufts.edu/default.asp]Tufts”>http://www.excollege.tufts.edu/default.asp)
[Tufts</a> University: The Experimental College](<a href=“http://www.excollege.tufts.edu/coursesCurrent.asp#all]Tufts”>http://www.excollege.tufts.edu/coursesCurrent.asp#all)</p>
<p>I kind of expected International Relations given the colleges in the title…</p>
<p>You can also spend a couple of months in the French Alps taking courses in environmental economics and sustainability</p>
<p>[Tufts</a> University European Center in Talloires, France](<a href=“http://ase.tufts.edu/europeanCenter/programs/talloires/courses.asp]Tufts”>Home - Tufts European Center)</p>
<p>Thank you so much, Mastadon. She was at revisit and is leaning toward Tufts.</p>
<p>You can’t lose either way, Jumbo or Hoya. </p>
<p>My daughter is a dancer too. We met with Renata (heads dance program at Tufts). She is very nice, with tons of experience. Your daughter can minor in dance or just participate in classes / clubs. </p>
<p>My 2c on the difference given I have a sophomore son at GU and daughter who has sent in her deposit to Tufts for the Fall. If your daughter leans towards the creative side, and isn’t really sure which direction she will go career wise Tufts is a great place to figure it out. If she knows she wants either business or government then I would side with GU. The contacts / connections my son has made as a Gov major are incredible. The Jesuit education is fantastic - world class, but no one is pushing Catholicism on him and the school goes out of the way to be open to all religions as well as secular students.</p>
<p>My only ding on GU is that their study abroad is a bit weak for a university that prides itself on foreign service, Gov, IR. Tufts gets the nod when it comes to that!</p>
<p>On business side, you have two choices. One philosophy is to go for liberal arts in anything and then get an MBA later. Investment banking and consulting firms prefer this now as opposed to business undergrad. They train you in their own way, and consider that portion or learning to be very simple. The other philosophy is to study business undergrad. Tufts does not have a business school, so that decision is simple. You didn’t mention which school at GU your daughter was admitted into. If its MSB then know they are a great business school. Starting salary for bus bachelor degree is second highest in US! One other thing to note, banks and consulting firms all recruit at GU and hire a lot of kids from the GU college (ie liberal arts students). </p>
<p>Social aspect is great at both schools. GU is more preppy / business focused but nice kids and not too overly pretentious. Tufts is super friendly, everyone I met there was friendly beyond belief.</p>
<p>In summary, driven career focus go GU. Creative priority first and career second, go Tufts. Also if your daughter wants to minor in dance you can’t at GU (only performing arts minor).</p>
<p>Be happy to know your daughter will do great at either school, I love them both and bet she will be happy at either!!</p>