<p>Hi, I am debating between Tufts and Northwestern (and maybe also USC). I am interested in studying neuroscience (neither school has a specific neuroscience major) and in pursuing the pre-med track. I would also like to possibly minor in Women's Studies or Chinese.
I visited Tufts in October and loved it, I will be visiting Northwestern for Wildcat Days. Northwestern offered me a better financial aid packet than expected and I will hear from Tufts financial aid sometime next week. Assuming financial aid awards are comparable, I hope that my visit to Northwestern will help me decide between the two, but I would also like to hear any opinions on the strengths or weaknesses of the pre-med/ neuroscience programs at either of these schools.
Being from the San Francisco Bay area, living in Southern California for the next four years is not as appealing as the idea of living near Boston or Chicago. I really like how both Tufts in Northwestern are not exactly in the city, but near enough for access to internships/ city life experiences. Any thoughts on Medford/Somerville vs Evanston?
How do research/ internship opportunities compare at these schools? Is there a lot of competition for the same internships among all of the Boston schools (i.e. are internships harder to come across at Tufts)? Are the rates of medical school placement better at one over the other? Where do students tend to go to for medical school? Is there a lot of pre-med "weeding out" at these two schools? I know that Tufts has the Early Assurance Program, which is highly selective, but also somewhat appealing. How about any thoughts on grade inflation/deflation at these schools? Is Northwestern really much more cutthroat than Tufts?
Also, which school would have more opportunities to go study abroad as a pre-med? I really want to study abroad! Which one has better library resources/facilities? This is kinda important to me since the library is a place where I will probably be spending a lot of my time. Which school has more accessible professors? Are professors at one school generally regarded more highly than at the other?
I know that "fit" is most important for every individual when selecting a college, but does one school have generally "happier" students than the other? When I visited Tufts the students I interacted with appeared genuinely happy to be there and they were all very open and welcoming, but I also heard that there is not much school spirit (mainly due to its Division III sports), while Northwestern is part of the Big 10 Conference and thus has more visible school spirit. I don't really know how important that is to me though.
Whoa, this ended up being a much longer string of questions than I had originally intended for. Any responses would be very helpful!</p>
<p>I would definitely go to Tufts!!! The students that I have met seem happier than the students from NU. Boston is more fun for college students given the vast number and diversity of colleges in the area…If you want school spirit, check out the men’s soccer games at Tufts!!! True, NU is in the Big Ten, but they are the lovable losers like the Chicago Cubs…lol.</p>
<p>Without getting into to many details, I’ll say that on the one hand, Tufts has one of the best cognitive science faculties in the world.</p>
<p>On the other hand, NU is awesome. While they don’t have a neuroscience major, you could easily double major (almost everyone double majors thanks to the quarter system) in neurobiology (a specialization within the biology major) and Cognitive Science (interdisciplinary studies combining psychology, neurobiology, philosophy, computer science, and linguistics). </p>
<p>NU also has a TON of research opportunities as it is a major international research institution. NU also has a ton of funding for undergrads to do research- I received $3000 grants for my sophomore and junior summers to perform research in Philosophy. Many labs will straight up pay you as well.</p>
<p>As for School spirit I can’t speak to Tufts vs. NU specifically. I do take some serious issue with class clowns derogatory description, as NU students are quite spirited and care a lot about our (admittedly historically putrid and recently slightly better than mediocre) athletics. But if you like sports, there’s no comparison between D1 and DIII. </p>
<p>Evanston vs. Somerville, Evanston is a bit closer to Chicago, and Chicago is a much bigger city, so Evanston is a bit more urbanized and larger than Somerville, though Somerville ends up being cuter and easier to manage. Personally I love Evanston, but from my limited experience of Somerville I’d have to say the town itself is nicer than Evanston. That said, I’d pick Chicago over Boston every day of the week. Much bigger, livelier, more to do. Boston is no slouch, mind you, and if you like it you’ll love it, but chicago is one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to and one of the few places I’d consider living.</p>
<p>NU’s med school placement rates is one of the best in the nation (last I checked >80%) but I don’t know how that compares to tufts- probably quite comparably. NU’s pre-med track is known to be one of the most rigorous in the country- infamously they do not accept organic chemistry credits from any other schools (they used to accept only Harvard’s). So it will be punishingly hard, but it will prepare you extremely well, and that is reflected in NU’s high MCAT score average.</p>
<p>Feel free to post this on the NU board of PM me if you want more feedback- I don’t want to annoy the Tufts posters too much by blathering on.</p>
<p>All that said, Tufts is good too though! So either way you’re in great shape. If NU is cheaper I’d pick NU, but otherwise you’ll have a tough choice ahead!</p>
<p>(apologies to Tufts people for crashing your board, I was just peaking at class clown’s posts since he likes to hang out on the NU board).</p>
<p>No problem Arbiter. I have experience at both institutions and both are fine fine schools. The only thing that I would say is that while Chicago is larger than Boston and may have better restaurants, and architecture, you must note that Boston is FULL of college students and colleges, and the “scene” is much more oriented to the younger student in Boston. The vibe is different and geared to the student more.</p>
<p>Oh absolutely- Boston is a great city and is probably phenomenal to go to college in. I personally am a suburbanite and don’t like going out that much, so NU’s location within easy reach of a major metro gave me the sorts of things I wanted more than Boston did. But that’s definitely my personal preference and not be taken as true for anyone else!</p>
<p>I’ll be honest, I ended up not applying to Tufts because the supplement was too annoying and I wasn’t thrilled after my visit, but again that is not meant to mean anything other than Tufts was not my specific cup of tea. All my friends who went to Tufts loved it.</p>
<p>Both are great places. Northwestern does have the quarter system, which for me, was the biggest drawback. That being said, here are the things about Tufts:</p>
<p>Tufts is DIII, definitely not DI, but students have enormous school spirit, especially for the mascot, Jumbo the elephant. Additionally, despite not having sports compared to DI, it’s Boston: The Celtics, the Red Socks, The Bruins, the Patriots–where collegiate sports aren’t that great (maybe, BC, maybe), professional sports makes that up.</p>
<p>Tufts is known to have happy and friendly students. Although I would take rankings with a grain of salt, the Princeton Review has consistently had Tufts as one of the top happiest schools in the country. There is also a common theme where people aren’t competitive “with each other, but with themselves.”</p>
<p>The Princeton Review also states (again, grain of salt) that Tufts has one of the top study abroad programs. This makes intuitive sense as Tufts is really big on internationalism given its superb IR program (meaning the language, culture, IR stuff is good…thank the Fletcher school for that).</p>
<p>Tufts is actually closer to Boston than Northwestern is to Chicago (you still get the campus, but you can see the Boston skyline from the library rooftop). Chicago is bigger, but Boston is a college town with a lot of young people (since there are so many colleges and universities). You can also more easily access the city (subways, and Tufts has a shuttle to the subway system if you don’t want to walk). There are also taxi’s and busses. I am sure something similar exists for Northwestern.</p>
<p>As for libraries, Tufts has two on campus–the Tisch library and the Fletcher library. The Fletcher library (Ginn) is a kept secret which is extremely gorgeous and quiet as well.</p>
<p>Internship opportunities will be great in both places. A lot of students do research over the summer or work with professors. At Tufts, professors are very open and welcoming–and interactions and collaboration is highly encouraged.</p>
<p>And both places will be hard–Tufts doesn’t take Harvard’s orgo for transfer credit either (it isn’t “Tough enough”). Indeed, they don’t accept any transfer. Classes are going to be tough, but you will do really well. Students definitely place into great medical schools and some obviously do the track to Tufts medical school. A lot also drop out of being pre-med (like any school). </p>
<p>Tufts newest President is also an MD/PHD who discovered the gene for language–so there definitely is going to be a more science focus (probably) in the years ahead.</p>
<p>Lastly, check out Tufts cognitive brain science program.</p>
<p>
It’s hard for me to believe that Evanston is closer to Chicago than Tufts is to Boston. (And that’s without counting all the liveliness of Davis Square and Harvard Square - so that you hardly need to go all the way into Boston.) Ok checked on Google maps, it’s a half hour drive, 1 hour train ride to downtown Chicago from Northwestern. Compare that with a 13 minute drive or half hour subway ride for Tufts.</p>
<p>Note however that Tufts except perhaps for the programs it runs itself only awards P/F credit for study abroad.</p>
<p>Mathmom and Buzzers make some great points…</p>
<p>Mathmom,</p>
<p>Chicago is like NYC; besides the downtown, there are many other places to go or hang out. It’s what makes it feels big and liveliest after NYC.</p>
<p>^Oh I agree. I like Chicago a lot. My Dad is originally from the north shore - it’s much more of a big city than Boston is - I still have an relatives in Evanston and my son almost went to the U. of Chicago. That said, the area stretching from Tufts to MIT is a huge student hangout.</p>
<p>^Useful area stretches all the way to the northern border, which is 3 miles from the edge of campus: </p>
<p>[Chicago</a> Ave to Dodge Ave - Google Maps](<a href=“http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Chicago+Ave&daddr=Dodge+Ave&hl=en&sll=42.024953,-87.675121&sspn=0.06937,0.139732&geocode=FTGegQIdtyLG-g%3BFZAtgQIdts_F-g&oq=howard+street,+chicago&t=v&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=13&z=13]Chicago”>http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Chicago+Ave&daddr=Dodge+Ave&hl=en&sll=42.024953,-87.675121&sspn=0.06937,0.139732&geocode=FTGegQIdtyLG-g%3BFZAtgQIdts_F-g&oq=howard+street,+chicago&t=v&mra=dme&mrsp=1&sz=13&z=13)</p>
<p>NU also runs a free shuttle to the downtown campus in the heart of the Magnificent Mile.</p>
<p>Evanston (at least the part where NU students are likely to hang out) is much nicer than Medford and is nicer than all but a small part of Somerville (Davis Square, which is nice but probably still doesn’t offer as much as Evanston).
Tufts “feels” like a New England liberal arts college, even though it’s a university. NU has a completely different feel, but definitely not that of an LAC; much larger. I like them both a great deal, and couldn’t say i’ve got a preference (the Tufts campus is certainly smaller, but it’s got a hill, while the NU campus is larger but basically flat; NU also has the beautiful lakefront).
Div I certainly engenders more spirit about athletics than Div III, if that’s important to you.
And NU has a big Greek life, while at Tufts it’s much smaller.
Both great schools.</p>
<p>Haha sorry I have no advice, just my sympathies. I’m in a similar situation to you: on the pre-med track with acceptances from Northwestern and Tufts (and a couple others). I really have no idea what to do and have very similar questions/interests as you do.
I visited Tufts this October, but only for a few hours for a tour and info session, so I didn’t really explore as much as I would’ve liked. I don’t think I’m revisiting though.
I’m also going to Wildcat Days too, on the 9th. When have you registered to visit? Hopefully we’ll both really like it there:)</p>
<p>You’ve obviously got two great choices. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Bloom where you are planted and don’t look back!</p>
<p>@ Daphne</p>
<p>In west coast terms, Boston feels a lot like San Francisco (only a little smaller) and Chicago feels a lot like LA (only a little smaller). As you have probably figured out, this makes Chicago significantly larger than Boston. </p>
<p>The primary hangout for socially active Jumbos is the “Tufts-Harvard-MIT corridor”. This corridor consists of Davis Square, Porter Square, Harvard Square, Central Square and Kendal Square. These squares correspond to the subway stops between Tufts and MIT. Davis Square and Harvard Square are the most popular hangouts for Tufts students. </p>
<p>Since it is about two miles from Tufts to Harvard and about another two miles from Harvard to MIT, this corridor is a little bigger than the city of Evanston. Since Downtown Boston is right across the Charles River from MIT and Evanston shares a border with Chicago, technically Northwestern is a little closer to Chicago than Tufts is to Boston.</p>
<p>But it is important to remember that Chicago is about 35 miles long by about nine miles wide. To put this in context, if you were to overlay Evanston and Chicago onto Massachusetts aligning the southernmost parts of the two cities, Evanston would land somewhere near Salem, New Hampshire.</p>
<p>It is also important to recognize that people seeking entertainment in the Chicago area do not go to “Chicago”, they go to “Downtown Chicago”, which starts about 13 miles from
Northwestern and extends about another seven miles. That puts some parts of the downtown about 20 miles from Northwestern.</p>
<p>In contrast, you are in “Downtown Boston” as soon as you cross the river and its furthest point is about three miles. That puts the furthest reaches of “Downtown Boston” about seven miles from Tufts.</p>
<p>So, the most relevant comparisons are Evanston vs. the Tufts-Harvard-MIT corridor, the fact that Northwestern is about 13 miles from downtown vs. Tufts is about four miles from downtown, and that Chicago’s downtown can’t be navigated by foot and Boston’s pretty much can.</p>
<p>I would have to say that socially and hangin’ out in town with students, Boston really has the much better vibe. I get a much more institutional feel from NU than from Tufts when it comes to campus comparison…Good luck!!!</p>
<p>
This is a ridiculous statement; it becomes even more absurd when post #9 already said that Chicago has way more places to hang out than just the downtown. The stretch really starts about three miles south of Evanston/Chicago boarder along the lake and continues all the way to downtown. A neighborhood called Lakeview probably has more 24-hr places than the whole Boston has. A much more vibrant city with many lively areas outside its downtown shouldn’t really be a foreign concept, considering most of you have probably been to NYC. Chicago is very much like that.</p>
<p>Northwestern is stronger than Tufts in terms of the reputation in academia of its premedical program and the placement of their students in to top medical schools. Chicago vs. Boston is a personal preference, as is the assessment of the “college town” feel of Evanston vs. Medford.</p>
<p>Hey there! I’m a current sophomore at Tufts, and my best friend from home is a pre-med/cognitive science major at Northwestern, so hopefully I’ll be able to help you out with some views on both sides of the spectrum. To start off, let me congratulate you for getting to pick between these two really awesome schools!</p>
<p>In terms of a neuroscience major, here at Tufts the biopsychology major is basically the equivalent. If you’re more into the math of neuroscience, then you’d want to look into the cognitive science major here. It’s a REALLY excellent program, super interesting, and the new head of the HRI (Human-Robot Interaction/Artificial Intelligence) Lab, Professor Scheutz, is brilliant and an extremely awesome guy to do research for.</p>
<p>Both Northwestern and Tufts have great language programs–I’m currently studying Chinese here, and I can tell you straight up that the professors are AMAZING. They’re all hilarious, accessible, friendly, and really great at teaching! Foreign language at Tufts is definitely one of it’s strong points–and it’s really easy to go abroad here (even on a non-Tufts abroad program), so keep that in mind, too. Going abroad pre-med is absolutely NO problem–many pre-med kids here even double major in bio and a language in addition to their pre-med requirements.</p>
<p>In terms of research opportunities, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a school that loves undergrad researchers more than Tufts! The science professors love undergrads, and it’s not uncommon to find that half of your friends are going to stay on campus over the summer to do research. I have plenty of pre-med/bio and cogsci/compsci friends who do research in labs both over the summer and during the school year, and they get paid to do it! In terms of summer internships, Tufts kids tend to spread out over the summer–if you’re qualified enough to get an internship in California, you’ll probably be qualified enough to get one in Boston, as well. It just depends on where you look. I can’t speak for Northwestern, but I know from experience that the professors at Tufts are always eager to speak to students. Please note, though, that no matter where you go, you have to be sure to reach out first. Professors can’t reach out to every single student if they’re teaching a 100-200 student lecture class–be sure to take the first step when establishing a relationship, no matter where you go!</p>
<p>When it comes to Medford/Somerville vs. Evanston, chances are you’re going to be doing a lot more walking around in Evanston. Things are a lot more spread out in Evanston, while Davis Square is very close to Tufts (a 10 minute walk? 15 minutes if you want to take your time?), and we have a shuttle service to get us there if you’d rather not walk. Also, gotta note this: the number one thing you’ll hear Northwestern students complaining about are the winters. Boston winters are significantly milder because we’re closer to the ocean–up in Chicago the lake just freezes over and then you’ve got cutting winds and biting temperatures 24/7.</p>
<p>In terms of med school: Early Assurance is a great thing–but you’re right about it being extremely selective. If you want to do EA, just be sure to start your pre-med track right away. I have a friend going through interviews for EA right now, and it definitely helps to get as many pre-med reqs out of the way as possible. I can’t say anything about rates of med school placement, but I can say that (from what I’ve heard through my friend at NU, at least) Tufts is much more relaxed competition-wise. As many Jumbos will say, Tufts kids are competitive with themselves, but not with their peers. It’s all about collaboration, here. Neither school is a Johns Hopkins, though–you will safely get an excellent pre-med education at either school without the unnecessary undergrad cut-throat stress.</p>
<p>Northwestern definitely has a bigger library, but that goes with the territory of being a bigger school. Tisch (our library) is comfortable for our size, and if you’re looking for a quieter, more academic grad-student feel, undergrads are also welcome to go to Ginn Library (the Fletcher School’s library) to study. We also have an inter-library loan system with a bunch of schools in the area, so you won’t have any problem accessing the sources that you need.</p>
<p>In terms of school spirit in athletics, Northwestern is a clear winner. School spirit at Tufts mostly revolves around things like dance groups and a cappella. I’ve been here for two years already, and I can’t say that I feel like I’ve missed out on much in terms of Div I sports. But, as you said, it’s really just personal preference.</p>
<p>And… there you go! This ended up being a REALLY long string of answers to your questions. Hopefully I didn’t respond too late, and hopefully this was helpful! You’ll have a great time, no matter what school you choose.</p>
<p>@ Sam</p>
<p>Please relax, I am actually the spouse of a Northwestern Alum and a long-time financial supporter of your school. I am also a Tufts Alum and have a child attending Tufts. The sentence you extracted was nothing more than an attempt to disambiguate the term “Chicago” (hence the quotes) because people in the preceding posts were using the term in different ways and it appeared to be causing confusion. It was in no way meant to imply that there is nothing to do outside of the Downtown Chicago area. In fact, that implication would be inconsistent with the first sentence of my post, which compares the feel of Chicago to that of LA. (LA happens to be the second largest city after NYC, is very “lively” and has the benefit of being close to the poster). </p>
<p>My next post, which got delayed due to the fact that my family spent the holiday weekend in the Chicago suburbs, probably would have clarified my intent.</p>
<p>To get right to the point, I see three objective differences between the two cities that need to be mentioned: </p>
<p>The first is that the public transportation system in Chicago runs 24x7 while the public transportation system in Boston shuts down at 1AM. Students from NYC, Miami, LA and Chicago, who are used to hanging out at 24-hour places after 2AM, should take this into consideration. For all intents and purposes, Boston has pretty much shut down by 2AM and any social activities have to migrate back to the college campuses (of which there are many). In this context, it is important to recognize that Boston is about a five-hour drive or a $20 bus ticket (each way) from NYC. The more socially adventurous students in the Boston area colleges will go on weekend excursions to NYC to get a taste of nightlife or culture that cannot be found anywhere else. The ideal is to go with a friend from NYC who can serve as an expert guide or link up with a friend who is going to school in NYC.
Some students from the local area also have experience making this trip.</p>
<p>The second is that while Chicago is very large and has all the advantages associated with scale, Boston/New England is very dense with all the advantages associated with proximity. In particular, Boston has more students than any city in the US, and is second only to Montreal in all of North America. Couple this with the fact that Boston is tiny compared to the likes of NYC, LA and Chicago and you end up with a student density that is so high, it actually drives the social environment/culture of the city. See the links below (Note that Wellesley, Babson and Olin are just outside of this area, but they also socialize in Boston.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Boston_college_town_map.png[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Boston_college_town_map.png</a></p>
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Boston_college_town_map.png[/url]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Boston_college_town_map.png%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>[List</a> of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_metropolitan_Boston]List”>List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Other aspects associated with proximity are that BostonÂ’s cultural attributes are more accessible for inexperienced city-goers, and Massachusetts/New EnglandÂ’s recreational attributes are more accessible for outdoor adventure types. For summer research interns (or students if the weather cooperates), the ocean and beautiful salt-water beaches are less than an hour away and Cape Cod is about two hours away. </p>
<p>The third difference is that Boston and Chicago are very different topologically and historically. Boston is hilly, while Chicago is flat. The joke in our family is that while Bostonians will hire a bulldozer to level out their land, Chicagoans will buy truckloads of dirt to build artificial hills – seems like each wants what the other has. Boston is 175 years older than Chicago, so it has more history and features quaint colonial architecture, while Chicago features some beautiful and impressive modern architecture. The streets of Chicago were laid out in an efficient grid by an urban planner, while the streets of Boston were laid out by 17th century cows, who tended to be less concerned with efficiency.</p>
<p>These differences give each city a different “feel” or “vibe”, but I agree with Medman: which is “best” is a matter of personal preference and what is best for me may not be best for you. </p>
<p>These are both great cities and both offer more than the typical college student can take advantage of (due to time and budget constraints) in four years. My advice is that if you are lucky enough to go to either school, make sure you periodically drop the books and experience what each city has to offer. College should be more than just book learning!</p>