<p>Congrats on getting into two excellent schools!</p>
<p>Obviously people are going to be biased if you ask current Tufts’ students or Brown students, but I will say that I know several people that were in this exact same situation and picked Tufts. So here is my take on it:</p>
<p>Both schools have happy students and nice students (and Tufts does have good food!). And I think both institution will provide you with a lot of attention from professors (both have a student teacher ratio of 9:1). Both institutions will also provide you with smart peers (Tufts 25-75% SAT is 2040-2260 while Brown’s is 1980-2250).</p>
<p>So the schools are very similar in regards to metrics. What it seems like in your situation are your parents and the “prestige” factor versus your personal preferences.</p>
<p>Most people in New England would put Tufts as a peer with Brown. Indeed, Tufts is considered a “little ivy” (it’s part of NESCAC which is the athletic league for the little ivies, much like the ivy league is for the “big” ivies).</p>
<p>Indeed, Tufts is well respected and always on the rise: </p>
<p>It ties Upenn and Dartmouth for 2nd in the number of undergraduate alumni that are current Fortune 100 CEO’s; it ties Harvard and JHU for the number of Fulbright Scholars; and the Times Ranking of World Universities put Tufts 53rd in the world this year (ahead of both Brown and Dartmouth).</p>
<p>So Tufts is a stellar school and you shouldn’t let your parents try to convince you otherwise in that regard (indeed, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, the Boston Fed, Harvard Medical School, Google, Microsoft, Lincoln Labs, CIA, State Department, among many others all recruit at Tufts. That is, they pay money to recruit here).</p>
<p>I think there are several things that I like about Tufts:</p>
<p>First, is the proximity to Boston. The campus, like Brown’s, is beautiful and you can even see the Boston skyline from the library rooftop. What’s nice is that Boston is a “college city”–there are so many colleges and universities. Best of all, it’s not hard to access the city. Tufts is on the red line, with Harvard and MIT. The redline is arguably the best line because it goes through the heart/best parts of Boston.</p>
<p>It’s nice to have a campus and at the same time access to the city. Plus, Davis Square is an awesome place.</p>
<p>Providence has definitely been improving, but most people I know at Brown like to make trips to Boston because it’s a bigger city (with more things to do).</p>
<p>Second, Tufts students are very quirky. To some people, they don’t like that, or they hear that and they misunderstand it. Tufts students are quirky but in a good way. Indeed, the quirkiness is something that makes Tufts amazing. It’s hard to explain. But I attribute it to the application process and the admissions officers. All those essays help create a quirky student body. It’s flippin awesome. There are Tufts’ students who will work on wall street having the same quirkiness as the students who will go to Africa to save starving children. It’s like a good kind of quirkiness, not the annoying weird kind.</p>
<p>As an example, Tufts has, like other schools in New England, its own quidditch team (called Tufflepuffs). They apparently got 2nd at the “World Cup” in NYC. What’s hilarious is that you have these really athletic but brainy kids playing quidditch. As one mom I know jokes, “even the athletes are brilliant nerds.”</p>
<p>And these students aren’t cut-throat, they compete with THEMSELVES and NOT each other. Indeed, working together is a big thing. As is volunteering and internationalism. You will have people interested in a mixture of things—double majors in engineering and english or economics and women studies or biomedical engineering and art history. It’s really cool.</p>
<p>You have such a mixture of backgrounds that everyone seems to be brilliant at something. With the influence of the Fletcher School, there is a big emphasis to help “save the world” or “impact it in a positive way.” Thus, professors will work with students and students will work with one another. The material in class is actually relevant in the real world. While Brown does have the open curriculum, I don’t think students at Tufts mind the required courses. Two reasons: First, the courses are interesting and relevant and second, you can AP out of some classes.</p>
<p>In regards to the things that you specifically talked about here are some things you might find interesting:</p>
<p>Tufts’ LAX is apparently really good (the men’s team won nationals last year)</p>
<p>Tufts has a log cabin in New Hampshire. It’s about an hour ride up there (student groups have vans and make trips every weekend). There, students ski, snowboard, or go camping.</p>
<p>Tufts has one of the best study abroad programs out there (I think Princeton Review ranked it like 3rd this year). That’s mainly because of the focus on internationalism and the influence of the Fletcher School. A lot of students study abroad and it’s definitely encouraged.</p>
<p>Tufts language program is really good (again because of the Fletcher school and the emphasis on internationalism). I remember one of my Tufts friends speaking Chinese with my Harvard friend. My Harvard friend, who is Chinese and speaks fluently, said my Tufts friend, who is Jewish, had “no accent.”</p>
<p>Students study Arabic, Chinese, Swahili, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, etc. etc. etc. The professors are highly liked by the student body.</p>
<p>Pre-med/biology stuff: Tufts’ new president is an M.D. and PhD who is (or rather was) the Pro Vice Chancellor at Oxford. He apparently discovered the gene for language. Regardless, Tufts is reallyyyyyy well respected for kids who are pre-med, pre-dental, or pre-vet. It’s funny because Tufts is known for being a really good pre-med school and a really good school for international relations (very diverse things!). A lot of the undergraduate research focuses on making things, like biological studies, applicable to the real world. There are lots of speakers and symposiums that come in which leading scholars and undergraduates share their work and interact with one another.</p>
<p>English: A lot of people like the English department. There are some really nice professors and the classes are really small. It’s great. And the kind of writing is very dynamic. You have Lee Edelman, who is very well known in his works on Queer Theory and then you have Joe Hurka known for his work in fiction. It’s cool.</p>
<p>Drama/Dance/Singing: A Cappella and dance at Tufts are huge. Lot’s of groups to get involved with and the students here love to attend the shows. The all male a cappella group, the Beezlebubs, actually do the background singing for the “Warblers” on the show Glee (they are even mentioned on the new glee album). They have also performed for Obama, the Clintons, and won 2nd place on NBC’s “the sing-off.”</p>
<p>For Dance, there is a range of styles: from modern, to tap, to jazz, to advanced to just starting out.</p>
<p>For Drama, there are all kinds of things from plays, to movies that students make (and show to the student body), to improv, etc. etc.</p>
<p>That was a lot of stuff, so sorry if I misspelled something and/or repeated things. I think at the end of the day this is your choice, not your parents. You should go where you are happy. And you are smart to visit both schools.</p>
<p>Indeed, no one at Tufts feels inferior to Ivies. There are plenty of students that turned down ivies for Tufts. Tufts is also well respected in New England. It’s also part of the “Brain power triangle” because it’s on the redline/its close proximity with Harvard and MIT (the other two institutions making up the other parts of the triangle). Just be happy and go where you feel you fit in the best. That’s the place you will go the farthest and do the best at.</p>
<p>I hope that helps. Best of luck!</p>