Hello. After thinking Johns Hopkins was my definite number one and where I would go to school, I am having second thoughts. I am worried about not enjoying my college experience, as even though I was qualified enough to get in, I am not sure if I am the sit down and grind out coursework and studying through the late night all week type that might be required of Hopkins. Tufts, while not at the caliber of JHU, is still a spectacular academic program. I am curious if Tufts might offer more of the social aspect and collaborative environment that I am looking for in a college, and if passing on JHU’s extraordinary education for a slightly lesser education but more of a social experience.
Some addition information:
-I will be running track for either college I attend (less time to work/do activities)
-I plan on majoring in chemE, and engineering programs are more rigorous regardless of the school
Thank you for your help
I would say that Tufts is generally a more social school and less rigorous than Hopkins. But I wouldn’t go as far as to say that JHU is superior to Tufts academically. JHU was superior to Tufts in the past, but now Tufts rivals schools like JHU, WashU, Georgetown, etc. I’ve only heard great things about Tufts’ student body, and that’s why I ultimately chose it over WashU, Berkeley and Harvard. Its students have also risen to new heights academically in the past couple years as Tufts’ admissions have become much more competitive. Because Tufts relies heavily on the supplemental essays to make admissions decisions if the applicant has passed the numbers threshold, the school is able to create an astounding and eccentric class full of great and diverse minds. If Tufts, in your mind, was on the academic level of JHU (which, in my mind and minds of many others, it is), which would you pick?
@knick06 while Tufts does not have the prestige and perceived strength of JHU, it is still a very good school and much more manageable and reasonable for undergrad. Hopkins is known to be very rigorous and competitive and in a not so nice location. You should really think about fit as it can be one of the key determinants of how well you actually do in college.
Tufts2021, thank you that helps a ton. The reason I would find it hard to pass on Johns Hopkins is because of the outstanding academics, and if Tufts, as you said, has quite comparable academics nowadays, it would likely be a better fit for me. Thanks.
@Tufts2021 you chose Tufts over Harvard??
@knick06
On topic, Tufts is considered a step below JHU, However they are both great and you can’t go wrong with either choice. I will say if you are looking for social both schools do not get high marks in that area. JHU is where fun goes to die.
I would be inclined to agree with @VANDEMORY1342 that neither Tufts nor JHU are the most social schools, but Tufts is substantially less competitive and I think the students are pretty friendly. If you’re looking for massive parties I’d probably not recommend either school, but Tufts is in a pretty decent area and you can easily get to other schools with parties if that’s what you want.
@VANDEMORY1342 @micmatt513 thanks for your input. When I said social, I should have been a little more specific. I’m not looking for big parties, if I was I know neither Hopkins nor Tufts would be the right fit for me. As part of the track team, I think I would already be in a social group, as well as have people to study with. The coach, who I met on campus, reassured me of this with anectodes and other things he’s notice about the team. I was more worried about if I’ll ever have time to do things, like go to the rec center and play pick up basketball or just have a little down time with my friends. My high school is pretty demanding academically, and I am a three sport athlete, so I understand that I will not have time on the week days, except for here and there. However, just some downtime on weekends and every once in a while on weekdays to just he able to hang out is what I’m looking for.
I have several friends (and a coworker) on the track team and they’re all really nice people and a close-knit group. Let me know if you have any questions about Tufts and I can do my best to answer them. I was a former BME and am currently making my own engineering major, so I can answer any questions about the engineering programs since I have friends in every program. Almost everyone has plenty of time to just relax and have fun, but you might have to choose just a few activities to really delve deep in otherwise you might feel like you’re spread too thin.
Tufts at the same level as Hopkins academically? You’re kidding yourself there lol…
But on the real Tufts will be a lot more fun and Boston/Medford is a much better location. Could you describe your academic profile so that I can gauge whether you would have a hard time at Hopkins or not? The reason I ask for this is because Hopkins is a seriously competitive school and it’s really easy to have fun as long you can manage the academics well.
The academic differences between the schools are negligible, but spending 4 years in Boston would likely be more interesting than 4 in Baltimore.
@VANDEMORY1342 Well, yes, I did, mostly because of the atmosphere I got at both schools and because Harvard gave me a spot for 2022, not 2021.
Anyway, I think it’s too much of a blanket statement to say X school is better than X school. It depends which people you ask, what region of the country you’re from, what program within the school one may be talking about, etc.
For example: Johns Hopkins is superior to Tufts in terms of its English department, but Tufts is superior to Hopkins in terms of its IR department.
Over where I’m from, on the west coast, Tufts and JHU are considered peers, which is why I’ve always thought of them as having equal academic opportunities with different social vibes, Tufts being the more social school.
@Jsteez Tufts may not have been academically comparable to Hopkins 5 or 10 years ago, but it is now, at least according to my guidance counselor, friends and family, and even students I met at Tufts who were admitted to Hopkins also.
Isn’t it too late to be pondering on this now since you most likely already officially committed to JHU in May? Or are you a rising senior and just considering your choices? My son attended JHU, very cut-throat environment, but reasonable social life if time allowed.
^ “very cut-throat environment”
Might not be the best school for the OP then…
Tufts2021 is referring to the rise in selectivity at Tufts rather than any actual change in academic breadth or depth, which does not occur nearly so easily or rapidly. Choice of IR as a sample strength of Tufts was a poor choice in any case, as Hopkins is obviously at least as strong in that arena.
@@knick06 Combining sports and engineering will be difficult and time consuming at both universities. If Tufts seems more happy-go-lucky than Hopkins, I suspect that is at least partly because JHU has twice as many students majoring in STEM as Tufts and nearly three times as many pre-meds.
My bad using IR in the example; hopefully my point still makes sense.
Tufts middle SAT Range for class of 2020 is a 1370-1520 while Hopkins is 1480-1560; for the ACT, Tufts’ range is 30-33 while Hopkins is 32-35. If you just look at the median then Hopkins’ median is 75th percentile for Tufts SAT and even greater than that for the ACT.
@warblersrule Hopkins and Tufts have had relatively similar acceptance rates the past 5 years so to say Tufts rise in selectivity has made it catch up Hopkins is unfounded as Hopkins has similarly gotten more selective the past few years as a reference frame. Meanwhile Tufts has held steady or dropped in USNews rankings while Hopkins has moved up in rankings in the echelon where movement is much more noteworthy.
@Tufts2021 I’m from the west coast as well and am now at a T1 university after graduating from JHU BME in 3 years and can without a doubt say no one who went to another top tier school places them in the same bracket (but I rarely go outside of the STEM/medical realm). If you plan on moving back to the west coast you’re going to have a fun time telling people where Tufts is as most people here have never heard of it as the most obvious choices are to go Berkeley or UCLA which West Coasters hold in the highest regards and is a fraction of the cost of Tufts. If you want to look at guidance counselor reputation rankings Hopkins is in the second highest group ranked at 5 and tied with Princeton, Dartmouth, and Columbia. Tufts is out at 23. For International Studies and Politics Hopkins is in the top 20 while Tufts is in the 100-150 range (source QSWorld). For some people reputation doesn’t matter but I went through the recruiting process for IB/Consulting before deciding that route wasn’t right for me and it was VERY apparent prestige mattered at the firms in interviewed with (there was barely anyone outside of the top 10 or ivy league and Hopkins wasn’t even a target for most recruiters). I’m sorry to hear you would have had to wait a year to attend Harvard but honestly if that’s still on the table you should consider it as it’s educational and recruiting opportunities are so unbelievable and amazing. You are probably an incredibly smart kid to have been admitted to Harvard so I don’t doubt you’ll be able to achieve the same things at Tufts but when we talk averages there are standout differences.
@Jsteez thanks! And I do agree that JHU is better in terms of medicine/science. But I will say that since you went through the admissions process 3 or 4 years ago, you probably see Tufts in a different light than those who just went through the admissions process this year. The class of 2021’s average ACT jumped to 33 this year, on par with Hopkins. But JHU’s rep as a top school has been around longer than that of Tufts, since it’s a relative newcomer to the realm of top schools.
And maybe I’ll hop on the Harvard train for grad school… I find it to be a very overrated and, frankly, unfulfilling undergraduate experience.
Child turned down JHU for Tufts this year for reasons described above - location and school culture/vibe. It happens. A lot. Rankings differences between schools like Tufts and JHU just don’t matter that much to anyone who has been out of school for a while.