<p>Assuming I get a great aid package from Northeastern, do you think Tufts is worth the $ if I don't get alot of financial aid. Has anyone else have to make this decision?</p>
<p>I say yes. I got a reasonable amount of money from Northeastern, nothing from Tufts and still chose Tufts. Of course it's up to you, but I went to visit Northeastern and just didn't feel at home there like I did (do!) at Tufts. I don't think you can really put a price on feeling at home...</p>
<p>I can't believe you're even asking. Tufts is legions better than Northeastern in every way possible (though I concede that it's getting better slowly). The kids from my school that went to Northeastern were the kids that the college counselor recommended take some "time off to find themselves" or go to a junior college first. That's not to say that smart kids don't go there -- smart kids go everywhere! -- but I feel like the smarter kids at Northeastern are there because of a choice between a better financial aid package at NU and a worse one at a "better" school.</p>
<p>It's better than, say, Suffolk, but not near Tufts or even safety schools for Tufts like BU, BC, Hamilton, etc. That being said, if you do get a lot of money from Northeastern and your parents tell you there's no way they'll still finance for you to go elsewhere, then I guess you have no choice... but I hope you're as lucky as Shani was.</p>
<p>Lolabelle,
Why do say Tufts is better than Northeastern? I think that sounds a little elitist to me. Tufts probably does have a better academic profile but I don't know if it is that much more to justify the cost if I get a ton of aid from NE. BTW, I heard that Tufts is a safety school for many people. Unlike many other people, I am not very interested in rankings, etc.<br>
If I want to stay in the Boston area, I was wondering how much of a difference graduating from either school would be in terms of careers and grad schools.</p>
<p>All I know is what I said before: the kids from my high school that went to Northeastern were the ones in the bottom 20% (note: I went to a private high school where 100% of kids went to college, so there were no real "bad" students) while the kids who went to/applied to Tufts were in the top 10%. It might be different at your school. </p>
<p>I went to a different high school for a year in 9th grade and found out later that the valedictorian of my class there ended up going to BC because of a full scholarship even though he'd gotten into Yale. That was the decision he made and he's doing great now. That being said, I ran into him in Boston my sophomore year at Tufts, and he did tell me that though he thought he would have liked Yale academically better, the fact that he still was getting a great education at BC - for free! - was worth it.</p>
<p>From a Tufts Observer article that came out today: "Some students think rankings are good. They see the word “Ivy” as a trigger for employers and graduate schools, which means that Ivy League students are set for life. In 1976, education researchers Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale began a study to qualify that assumption. At the study’s conclusion in 1999, they found that Yale graduates earned 30 percent more annually than did their classmates from Tulane. But those students who turned down Yale for a less competitive school had the same average income twenty years later."</p>
<p>So if you're motivated and smart you'll do great no matter where you go. You might be surrounded by less "alpha" students all the time (notice I'm not saying there won't be alpha students at all schools), but that's a decision you may have to make. Tufts' professors are higher profile and the students are higher profile: the stats don't lie in that sense. BUT, if you were to get into both Tufts and Northeastern, and go to Northeastern for the hard-to-say-no-to financial aid package, just getting into Tufts tells me you are well-equipped to succeed at any school. Harvard, Tufts, or, yes, Northeastern. So I bet you'll do great no matter where you go.</p>
<p>As far as how having a Tufts degree would differ from having a Northeastern degree in terms of grad schools and applying for jobs, most people would probably assume a Tufts kid is smarter, but if you're a top student at Northeastern that's better than being a lower-rung student at Tufts. As is being a top Tufts student better than being a low-rung student at Harvard. That being said, I can't lie and say I don't think a top Tufts student would do better with prospects than a top student at Northeastern. But everyone has different experiences.</p>
<p>Re: your comment on Tufts being a safety school for some: Every school (except for Princeton and Harvard, maybe) are safety schools for one person or the other. Tufts might be a safety for Harvard kids, but Tufts is a reach for many others. In my case it was a match in every way possible.</p>
<p>I agree with everything LolaBelle said. Northeastern just is not on the same playing field as Tufts and the Ivies, Ivy-equivalents, and best LACs even though that's not to say that there are some students (even many!!) at Northeastern who are talented enough to be.</p>
<p>I realize that Tufts has a better name but why isn't Tufts listed as a top school on CC?? I mean, in order to get to this forum, I have to go alphabetically to "T"???</p>
<p>You're right...Tufts isn't in the Top CC Schools so it can't be a top school. Good thinking.</p>
<p>Er...ok the anti-Tufts logic here has spun way out of control...</p>
<p>"You're right...Tufts isn't in the Top CC Schools so it can't be a top school. Good thinking."</p>
<ul>
<li>I hope you're being deeply sarcastic...</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, "I've heard that Tufts is a safety school for many people" - I don't know where you've heard this, but here are the facts: We are a just-under-Ivy school that admits 26% of applicants, and has class SAT scores exactly identical to that of JHU, G-town, and Northwestern (and we are actually more selective than JHU, Northwestern, and Emory). Last year, we had 15,300 applicants. Unless you're a shoo-in for HYP, Tufts will be a reach. I'm surprised that this argument NEVER ENDS. Why can't people understand this??? They don't question G-town, or JHU...but always Tufts. The students from my HS who apply to Tufts are always in from the top 10 or so, and even then Tufts doesn't have to take any of them...</p>
<p>tufts is easily one of the best schools in the country. i'd put it in the category of georgetown, northwestern, etc.</p>
<p>It depends on fit for you and you alone---don't soley rely on meaningless rankings
NE has a very fine co-op program where you get real life experience in you field of study and make money while doing it to boot!
Go where you love and what makes sense for you and your family only---that may be Tufts, that may be NE
Being saddled with alot of debt at graduation may make you have to delay other life events---like buying your first home, car, getting married, having children. If you parents need to incur alot of debt for you to go to school they may jeopardize their retirement etc. You need to think about that too.</p>
<p>
[quote]
We are a just-under-Ivy school that admits 26% of applicants, and has class SAT scores exactly identical to that of JHU, G-town, and Northwestern (and we are actually more selective than JHU, Northwestern, and Emory). Last year, we had 15,300 applicants.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, to be really exact, Northwestern's SAT was 3 points higher last year. Northwestern undergrad has 6 schools. The difference would be another 10 points or more higher if only the average of their engineering and liberal arts students (the only types Tufts has) is used.
Northwestern had 13% jump in #applicants this year. The pool will probably be larger this coming year when they allow common application. My point is Tuft isn't more selective than JHU/NU/Emory. It's about the same in the sense that it's difficult to tell which one is harder to get in these days.</p>
<p>My point is that Tufts is falls right into the group - 3 pts up or down is neglible. What is interesting about JHU, NU, Emory, G-town, and Tufts is that they select from largely the same pool of applicants, each with their own focus in mind (i.e. Northwestern = journalism, Tufts and G-town = IR/IS, Emory and JHU = Medicine). I think it could be argued that Emory is a tad less selective than NU, JHU, and Tufts, but as you said, it's becoming very difficult to tell which one is indeed harder to get into these days.</p>
<p>anyway, I think we've answered the OP's question. We can end this thread.</p>
<p>I like how this thread descended in to chaos relatively quickly :) Chill peeps!</p>
<p>"You're right...Tufts isn't in the Top CC Schools so it can't be a top school. Good thinking."</p>
<ul>
<li>I hope you're being deeply sarcastic...</li>
</ul>
<p>I WAS!</p>
<p>If you don't think that Tufts is an excellent school, don't apply. You're wasting your time and money. If you actually get in (no small feat) and go, you're wasting your time and money, because you're too close-minded to get anything out of the experience. </p>
<p>A lot of going to a top school is being surrounded by extremely smart people. Everyone at Tufts is smart. Some are freakin brilliant people who turned down Ivies.</p>
<p>Finally, if you don't care about rankings but judge Tufts harshly for not being a Top 25 US News (which is the trigger for a CC Top University), then, frankly, your logical thinking needs a little bit of help.</p>
<p>Ariesathena, why do you seem to be so ticked off or have a chip on your shoulder? Where did I ever say that Tufts wasn't an excellent school? Please reread my post. I was unaware that a school had to be "top 25" for CC so I was confused because I just assumed Tufts would be listed. Again, I am not big into rankings. If this is the sort of hostility I can expect at Tufts, maybe I should reconsider applying...</p>
<p>I think you misunderstood her tone as she did yours. We're a happy bunch on this campus. Check the "Why I like Tufts" thread to see reasons why. Good luck with your application process! Let us know where it takes you.</p>
<p>I'm just tired of people bashing my school with impunity; calling it a "safety school" (because every school with a median SAT of 1400+ is a safety, clearly); claiming that any student with a 1350 and mediocre grades didn't get in because of "Tufts Syndrome;" and people who ask questions which seem to demand that we justify our pride in the quality of our school. </p>
<p>My interpretation of your posts was probably off, but it seemed like you do not see any difference in the quality of a Tufts education and the quality of an education at a second-tier school. (In fact, you called LolaBelle "elitist" for stating something to the effect of Tufts being a better school than Northeastern.)</p>
<p>Senior Undecided, fast-forward five years. Imagine that you regularly hear slurs about the school at which you had just spent four wonderful, challenging, and fulfilling years of your life. Would you really not tell people that if they do not appreciate what the school has to offer, that they should not apply? My tone was not meant as sarcasm or a b-tch slap: it is a statement of fact and good advice. If you do not like a school or are not impressed when you walk on campus, then do not apply, and, if you are silly enough to apply, don't waste four years of your life there.</p>
<p>When I went through the law school application process, I didn't waste my time on schools that did not impress me, both academically and environmentally. I wasn't going to enjoy three years there, and I certainly didn't want to take out $50,000/year in loans for it. It's just the sensible thing to do.</p>
<p>I learned that lesson the easy way. I loved Tufts from my first tour of it and just felt that it was home. I went, loved it, and realized that my gut instinct was dead-on. In a different world, if my parents couldn't have afforded Tufts, I would have made it happen, somehow - because the experience there was that phenomenal and I simply could not imagine being the person I am now, both intellectually and emotionally, had I gone to a different school.</p>
<p>I didn't read most of this, but FWIW, there is a something to say about Northeastern's employment program, where you go to school for two semesters and work for a third, so you graduate with a lot of work experience. HOWEVER, the kids I know who go there use their employment semester to work at the local pharmacy. I don't get the impression that the academics are top-notch, but if you think that having lots of work experience will give you a leg up when you graduate, it's something to consider.</p>