<p>it’s not just the traffic, but the roads are horribly laid out.
don’t fall too in love with the place, especially if your family’s not close to full pay. you just don’t know how Tufts’ numbers are going to work out.</p>
<p>Best of luck :)</p>
<p>Buzzers: My mom thinks that because I can’t drive, I can’t take care of myself. That’s definitely not true. It just means that I’m not completely independent because I can’t drive myself around. It’s a constant battle… I like riding the bus. I can read or work on homework…</p>
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<p>Fit is wonderful, but being able to afford the school is wonderful, too. Why not apply to JHU as well? Awards do vary from school to school–hedge your bets and apply to several places, even if they’re not your first choices. If Tufts ends up admitting you and giving you a great FA package, no worries. But if they admit you but don’t give you as much money as another school, it’s nice to have other options to choose from. </p>
<p>As long as I’m on a soapbox 
I agree with your mom about learning to drive sooner rather than later. It’s not a question about taking care of yourself; it’s about acquiring a useful skill. Easier IMO to do this at home with a parent paying for it. You can still take the bus even after you get your license.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove: I’ll probably get my license next summer. I guess it is something that everyone has to learn how to do. :)</p>
<p>I’ll just have to keep looking at my options. I think it’s difficult to find private universities that could be considered financial safeties. Claremont McKenna College also has great financial aid. They eliminated loans from their FA packages, so that really makes me happy.</p>
<p>IBFootballer: Thanks. :)</p>
<p>@Hello</p>
<p>No, I’m not saying that Tufts’ students are radical, merely that I know 18-20 Tufts students/alums (in recent history) whom I would describe as original thinkers, who are intellectual risk-takers–e.g. a kid who was a sous chef for 4 years and then went to medical school (and is getting a joint degree in medicine and nutritional science) or the two Tufts students I know who went to law school, passed the bar, and now one is lending himself to the cause of “Los Deseparacidos” (you can google–a bleak epoch in Argentinian history) in Argentina while the other has given herself over to working with an organization (ITS) in Germany whose task it is to document the fate of millions of civilian victims of Nazi Germany.</p>
<p>I think that there is a widespread enough sensibility (and support) at Tufts that takes both iconoclastic routes to conventional and less conventional career choices, more so than other schools (Penn comes to mind, in that regard, as a college with a capable but a more pre-professional student mindset than that of Tufts). I also seem to know a lot of Tufts students who do Gap years. And I think my own child falls into the category of some out-of-the box intellectual choices and was, thus, very attracted to Tufts.</p>
<p>SWharborfan: That is really unique. I would love to be surrounded by people like that!</p>