<p>I got into both Tufts and Dartmouth and have no idea which one to choose. Any suggestions or advice? Im from a pretty small town and love boston but I also am very active and love the outdoors.</p>
<p>Touch choice. I originally wanted to go there many years ago, but I changed my mind since I wanted to be in Boston. Dartmouth is also on the quarter system so I didn't like that, but it's also a much smaller school with a very intimate setting. It's tiny and secluded in the middle of nowhere (so you'll probably love the outdoors nearby). My friend who transferred out of Dartmouth complained that everyone just partied all the time, though I question her motives as I think she was looking for a reason to leave. She hated the isolation as there was no appreciable sign of civilization nearby as the town catered to an older generation. She said there was grade inflation compared to where she is now (Berkeley). You'll get an excellent education at either institution - if there was any other school that I would be at other than Tufts it would be Dartmouth. Any idea on what you want to study?</p>
<p>I'd pick Dartmouth without any hesitation</p>
<p>Heres a little info on me...</p>
<p>Im valedictorian of my class, really social and outgoing, come from a small new england community, play three varisty sports, looking maybe for international relations or possibly pre-med but thats completely up in the air and most likely will change tomorrow, love boston, but also love outdoors, looking to broaden my horizons and have an outstanding eye opening educational experience </p>
<p>Thank you for all your advice by the way- much appreciated. I heard that Tufts has a poor social life for freshman? Is this accurate at all? Im visiting both schools again soon but Im not sure that will make my mind up as Ive seen both campuses previously and like them both. Do you find there are any drawbacks to tufts? Any extreme positives?</p>
<p>Annandale- noticed you were at Nova. What has your experience been like there?</p>
<p>oh my gosh, no, the social life here is great. it depends largely about how social the person is.</p>
<ol>
<li>like snuffles said, Dartmouth is on the quarter system. That means less classes per quarter, but also more finals.</li>
<li>Dartmouth was my first choice; I was waitlisted but then given the option of coming after a semester. Now that I'm at Tufts, I actually really am glad that I didn't go to Dartmouth. The people here are everything I expected of Dartmouth students, and I REALLY REALLY like the proximity to Boston. It simply gives SO many more opportunities than would a rural campus.</li>
<li>I feel like there isn't much to do around the Dartmouth campus besides drink at frat parties - I'm sure non drinkers find things to do, but I feel like at Tufts it's easier b/c you're near the city.</li>
<li>We have a WONDERFUL IR program, I absolutely love it, and supposedly our med school is excellent.</li>
<li>Some people would argue that it may be better to go to a less-prestigious undergrad school, get a great GPA and then have an easier time of getting into grad school. But to each his own.</li>
</ol>
<p>if you want to visit, definitely IM me at bluirinka, I'd be glad to show you around! I haven't been given a single pre frosh yet :(</p>
<p>Obviously dartmouth.. It's better in (almost) every way.</p>
<p>Nah, i disagree. They're different, and therefore will suit different people's needs.</p>
<p>Seriously. I cannot stress this enough, ti's about the SCHOOL, NOT THE NAME. i think that, for example, Dartmouth being so rural and far from my house would have created a big problem for me.</p>
<p>Edited to Add: my mom works at Columbia and if I transfer there, there's a good chance I'd get in and be able to go for free tuition. But no, I want to stay at Tufts because I don't LIKE Columbia as much!</p>
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Edited to Add: my mom works at Columbia and if I transfer there, there's a good chance I'd get in and be able to go for free tuition. But no, I want to stay at Tufts because I don't LIKE Columbia as much!
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<p>OMG. Is Tufts basically paying your way through merit aid or something?</p>
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Edited to Add: my mom works at Columbia and if I transfer there, there's a good chance I'd get in and be able to go for free tuition. But no, I want to stay at Tufts because I don't LIKE Columbia as much!
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Did you actually get into Columbia THEN turn it down? Or are you just saying that because you never tried and didn't think you would get in?</p>
<p>EDIT: I mean that nobody would truely turned down an Ivy league school for a lesser one, one that's not even ranked in the top 25, unless one has a damn good reason to do so. And nobody could say that they would turn down an Ivy for Tufts unless they ACTUALLY did it. Tufts is a decent school with a good reputation around the northeast, but I doubt you would choose a paid Tufts over a free Columbia had you gotten into both schools.</p>
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OMG. Is Tufts basically paying your way through merit aid or something?
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Tufts doesnt do merit scholarships</p>
<p>For the record, I visited both schools and even took classes at Tufts last summer. I could honestly say that except for maybe the climate, Dartmouth is better in every way.</p>
<p>Wow...Pheonix I don't even know where to begin with that post....</p>
<p>So basically you're saying that because Tufts is not in the top 25 US News schools that no one would turn it down for an Ivy, right? You're saying that bluirinka obviously is just saying that about Columbia because she is a bitter ivy league reject who didn't get in and is just pretending that she could just swap to Columbia whenever she wants...and that it would be impossible for someone to choose a full tuition at Tufts over an Ivy</p>
<p>Well you could not be more wrong. Sorry to break it to you buddy- but the whole Tufts syndrome Ivy-League back up thing is in the past. Look at people's stats, research what Tufts has to offer and you will realize that it is not that unrealistic at all for people to turn down an Ivy for Tufts, because Tufts has such a great combination of strong academics, a personal atmosphere, a phenomenal group of students, an international focus and a location that can challenge any school in the country for being the best. I'm not going to go on and on about what makes Tufts so great, because I don't have the time...but the point is that you need to do your research before you make these claims. Yes all of the Ivies are fantastic schools and I'm not claiming that Tufts is better, but I am saying that Tufts offers an incredible experience that, coming from someone who actually attends, would not surprise me if someone chose it over another top school (and yes...even an Ivy- OH MY!)</p>
<p>And for your information- there are dozens of people who choose Tufts over other top schools. I personally know people who chose it over Dartmouth, Amherst, Wash U, Cornell, Brown, Penn, Duke, Columbia, Stanford, Northwestern, UChicago, and even the big Crimson across the Charles- and all of these people are extremely happy here. It's really not that uncommon actually. In fact, I know several people who applied to Tufts ED, got rejected, and then "settled" for Cornell, Wash U, and Johns Hopkins. </p>
<p>So, considering that every school is as unique as the individual attending, I would recommend that you think twice about making such generalizations and realize that a US News ranking isn't going to solely determine how much someone enjoys a school. </p>
<p>PS- I hope that you aren't one of those kids who didn't get into Tufts and are just trying to vent by discouraging others who got in from attending. That would just be pathetic and immature...</p>
<p>i agree with gojumbos..
Ivy's are so sadly overrated. Ill put it like this, if you want to go freeze to death in the middle of nowhere just to get an IVY Stamp, goto Dartmouth. Else pick Tufts. Great school... and its so small and UG oriented</p>
<p>For ur info, I did get accepted at tufts RD. I didnt apply to Dartmouth. problem with Ivy's is that people think that getting in is the sun and the moon and adopt this 'holier than thou' attitude about it</p>
<p>AMEN to gojumbos and thanks for sticking up for me!</p>
<p>Antarius, totally agree - i love the UG focus here, and the size.</p>
<p>Ph0enix, I'm going to respond to your post with as much calmness as you had abrasiveness. I did not get into Columbia RD, because my mother did not work there at the time. She started working there after I was waitlisted. They let me in off the waitlist, however.</p>
<p>BUT. I DID NOT CHOOSE COLUMBIA. GASP! I must be clinically insane, right? No, I had good reasons. I very much dislike the fact the Columbia is smack dab in the middle of the city. I don't LIKE New York all that much, I think it's way too big and dirty. I've lived twenty minutes away from it all my life, and it's very possible that I will end up living there or commuting as an adult, so WHY be forced to spend college there too?</p>
<p>I also am not too pleased with the image of the typical Columbia student. This is a gross generalization, I know there are tons of Columbia students who aren't like this, but they strike me as arrogant and a little too, i don't know, independent, given that they chose The City. I don't like people who are like I MUST BE IN THE CITY!!!! That's also one of the reasons I didn't choose NYU-Stern. The Core Curriculum REALLLLLLLY turned me off. Kill me before I have to take TWO years of maths and sciences. I want to spend my college tuition on courses that I want to take, g*ddamnit! lol. Columbia is also really close to home in that I'd feel guilty for not commuting, since room and board is SO expensive in New York, but if i DID commute I'd miss out on the typical college experience and be miserable. Plus my parents would expect me to come home every weekend, and while i LOVE my family, I want to make friends at college. And excuse me, but I'm an IR major, so Tufts' incredible IR program was very attractive to me. And I want to get into a good grad school, so maybe it's better to go to Tufts and get a higher GPA than in cutthroat, competitive Columbia classes.</p>
<p>And those are just Columbia's negatives, really. I could go on about Tufts' bazillion positives too.</p>
<p>I am, however, taking courses at Columbia for free this summer.</p>
<p>eng_dude - haha, no, but apparently there's an arrangement among colleges that if you're a faculty kid, the college will pay half tuition at any other school. So I'm at Tufts for half tuition.</p>
<p>EDIT: posted at the same time!</p>
<p>nah, we're middle class. and i pretty much explained in my previous post, lol. if anything be happy there are people like me, it'll give prestige whores on the Columbia waitlist an extra spot in the class.</p>
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eng_dude - haha, no, but apparently there's an arrangement among colleges that if you're a faculty kid, the college will pay half tuition at any other school. So I'm at Tufts for half tuition.
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<p>Same goes for kids of Johns Hopkins profs.</p>
<p>When I applied to Tufts, I didnt even know Dartmouth existed. I still have no idea where Dartmouth is.</p>
<p>w00t for not doing college research before applying</p>
<p>Ok I just skimmed through what you guy said because I was short on time, so I may be missing some stuff.</p>
<p>My point is that for people to turn down an Ivy, especially one as prestigious as Columbia, he or she would need to have an extremely good reason to do so. This does occasionally happen, but I bet if you do a statistic of everyone who got into both an Ivy and Tufts, over 95% would choose the Ivy. There was a study done on this for Harvard and Yale, and I think around 84% chose Harvard. I'm not sure if there was a similar study done on Tufts, could someone google it?</p>
<p>Tufts was(still is, but I got into better schools) one of my 5 choices, so I truely believe that it is a good school. I took classes there last summer, so I probably know more about the university than some of you prespective students. </p>
<p>I just cannot imagine turning down Columbia or Harvard(had I gotten in) for Tufts, ESPECIALLY if tuition was free for Columbia. You could list the classic arguments of how good Tufts is, but the truth is that an Ivy is just that much better and that much more prestigious.</p>
<p>Again, Tufts may be the perfect match for some students, and I encourage everyone to visit their accepted schools before making decisions. I also truly believe that Tufts is a good school and I personally would not mind attending at all. But generalizing that Tufts is "better" than the Ivy leagues would just make you guys spiteful haters.</p>
<p>EDIT: Again, this is just my personal opinion. Prestige may not matter to some of you. But I plan to go to grad school, hopefully Harvard Med or Harvard/Stanford/Upenn Business, so prestige matters greatly to me.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to bash Tufts or anything, because I STILL MAY GO THERE, and I WAS REJECTED TO DARTMOUTH. But truthfully, there was no way I would have turned down Dartmouth had I gotten in.</p>
<p>I think you're missing the point as to the overall fit of a university. I used to be enamored with prestige, but really, it doesn't matter if you're not happy. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but choosing a school for its prestige will only help you so far. You don't want to be at a school just because of its name. You don't want to have to create rationalizations of "oh, it's Columbia. I must like it because I came here to reap the benefits of its name!" That kind of fascade doesn't last long as the dawning realization of where one belongs becomes increasingly clear. Yes, the ivies are excellent institutions, but just being there bears no fruit if the student isn't prospering in that environment. The resources and excellence come from the reputation of the individuals that excel in the environment. If a student desperately wanted to be in a cosmopolitan setting but went to Cornell out of obligation to prestige and academics, he would be miserable. Do you still think it is a wise choice just because it's an ivy? I find it difficult to justify.</p>
<p>an important thing to consider is that Darthmouth is in the middle of nowhere. Tufts, on the other hand, is near Boston, and also to many other schools. I think you should also consider what you're interested in studying and do research into which school has a better program in that.</p>
<p>Ph0enix: If you turn down an Ivy, nobody will ever know. Ivy league is not for everyone. Some people might think Columbia is too urban or that Harvard is too snooty and not like them for that. Tufts is fairly prestigious (Adcoms for grad school will certainly have heard of it) plus what you do in college matters way more than where you go.</p>
<p>What makes Dartmouth so much better than Tufts? I mean yeah it's an Ivy, but is there anything that really makes it better?</p>
<p>I know exactly what you mean, and I actually find it "spiteful" that someone is saying "I cannot imagine turning down free tuition at Columbia for Tufts." It was actually an easy decision, given the person that I am. I would be MISERABLE at Columbia!</p>
<p>Besides, if you're worrying about me not finding a good job after graduation because Tufts' coattails aren't nearly as good as Columbia's, you don't have to. Besides Tufts' great career placement, my dad works at a great, really prestigious company that has a history of giving jobs to children of employees, and I would be honored to work there.</p>