<p>My decision seems to have come down to these two wonderful schools, and I would love some input from the CC community in making my decision. I'm interested in the humanities: perhaps history, religion, or international relations.</p>
<p>I got accepted to both, and if you are really interested in International relations, you should choose tufts without hesitation.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be so quick to say that, Jamiecago.</p>
<p>Carleton is quite renowned for its IR/Polisci. And it is one of the best LACs in the nation. You can get a superb IR/social sciences education there, on the same level (or perhaps beyond) Tufts.</p>
<p>The difference, very simply put, is that Tufts is a small-medium university, and Carleton is a Liberal Arts College. Also, Tufts is basically in Boston (right outside), and Carleton is in rural Minnesota 40 miles from the Twin Cities. The two have different educational approaches, different atmospheres, and different types of people.</p>
<p>The “different types of people” you mention is what concerns me, IBFootballer. While the opportunities of living outside Boston are super exciting, as a midwesterner I worry that Tufts students will be too East Coast pretentious for me to connect with. Similarly, I worry that Carleton will be too isolated and could become boring, to put it bluntly. Can anyone speak to these concerns?</p>
<p>THe Tufts student population is certainly abundant in East Coasters, but in my experience it is not a magnet for the “pretentious” type (although, to be sure, it has some, as do most schools).
Carleton, on the other hand, is most definitely “isolated.” It is also very quirky, but most people find it to be the best kind of quirky.</p>
<p>I know nothing about Carleton aside from its excellent reputation. D is a first year student at Tufts and we were just discussing over vacation that our favorite thing about Tufts is that there is zero pretension. Lots of people from the midwest, too, btw.</p>
<p>Tufts is AMAZING for International Relations. It’s their most popular major (or close to it… idk the exact stats but I’m pretty sure it’s most popular). However, the schools are completely different so I would decide which environment you like better. If you don’t really care about rural vs. suburban vs. urban (Tufts is kind of suburban yet it can be urban if you want it to be), I would pick Tufts.</p>
<p>@IBfootballer, I was actually at Tufts today and when speaking of the International Relations major they actually spoke about how during WWII, when everyone else was for isolationism, Tufts university in general was for a more global approach. I’m obvs biased towards Tufts though if I was there today :P.</p>
<p>EDIT: Meh… I reread that and it seems to have less to do with the major itself than how it sounded at the info session. Oh well, I guess admission session speakers are better at making everything sound amazing than I am haha.</p>
<p>“I worry that Tufts students will be too East Coast pretentious for me to connect with.” </p>
<p>Completely false.</p>
<p>Totally agree with Acceptd. My D is a sophomore at Tufts. The very LAST thing I think of when I am on the campus/in the company of her friends/introduced to new people, is how pretentious they are. I think the exact opposite, actually. I have found students to be very friendly, exceedingly bright, fun-loving, a little “quirky/nerdy” and proud of it, accepting of all “types” and loving their time at Tufts. There is definitely a lot of school spirit, just not necessarily in the “athletic” sense. And the IR program pretty much speaks for itself!</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Carleton, except that the people on this board also have a high regard for the school.</p>