The schools probably couldn’t be more different but this is what my decision has come to and I’d like any advice any of you have to offer. I’m going to be studying either Economics, Political Science or International Relations. I also live in CA so my total cost for UCLA is 35,000, and my total cost (with FA) for Tufts is 71,000… But my parents think we could appeal and potentially get more aid (not so sure about that).
I’m almost positive UCLA has a more diverse (both ethnically and in terms of thought/personality) student body, better food, facilities, way better weather and social life, etc.
But Tufts seems to have a very tight-knit and impassioned student community, and the education you receive there supposedly is top notch with small class sizes and a lot of ex-Harvard/MIT professors. It would probably also be easier to get into grad school if I go to Tufts, and I’ve heard the atmosphere is less competitive than UCLA. I’ve also heard that Tufts has some serious connections, and its easier to get Wall-Street/ Federal gov jobs if you go there. I also think going back east would be a good experience for me (I live in the Bay Area so LA is pretty similar).
Despite the outrageous cost, my parents have really been pushing Tufts. My mom went to UCLA for two years as a transfer student in 1988 and said that she felt like she was “serial number” there, and that the school was so big that she never got that great of an academic experience. She has this idea that Tufts is more prestigious than UCLA as well. I definitely don’t want to feel like I’m just being processed through a massive degree-factory, but I also like the west coast a lot so I’m torn.
My son has a similar situation like you. He got into UC Berkeley and Tufts, which both are his top dream schools and now he needs to make a final decision between these two. Since we live in bay area, most of my families strongly recommend go to UCB instead of Tufts due to reputation and location. My son wants to pursue CS or STEM major but we heard it’s very competitive at UCB, so we’d like to know what Tufts program can offer and also understand pros & cons in Public v.s. Private school. Have you signed up for Jumbo Day & Q&A session? It’s a good way to know more about the school, talk to people there and experience the environment. After visiting, you should have an idea of which school to go to. Good Luck !
@Polaris Though I am not a CS major at Tufts, I have taken some CS classes here and I have to say the collaboration aspect here is huge. Many undergrads majoring in CS work as course TAs and help fellow classmates for hours. I know someone who even pulled an all nighter at the CS department trying to help a fellow classmate finish his code. Also, Jumbocode has many resources and is a great organization for CS students. The CS curriculum here is indeed becoming more and more competitive with increased annual funding put into STEM/CS yearly. Though the CS/Engineering department is small, classes are definitely becoming more and more rigorous: Tufts prohibits its undergrads from taking summer CS classes for credit at many nearby institutions such as Northeastern or Brandeis due to the higher level of rigor of CS classes here at Tufts. I acknowledge that heavier STEM/Engineering schools such as Berkeley, UCLA may have stronger departments with better research, but collaboration here is huge and many CS majors here end up at Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. so I would say competition here is much less and there are still great outcomes. For outcomes, go to https://students.tufts.edu/career-center/explore-careers-and-majors/outcomes-major. Go to Class of 2017 Employment outcomes and you can see all the companies grads are at. The OP can also take a look on polisci/econ outcomes for the most recent class.
Regarding the OP’s question on polisci and economics at Tufts, I know many friends who are polisci majors here who have gotten into many great internships for the summer and are all very politically active, often joining protests downtown. Tufts CIVIC is also a great organization for political discussion in which students challenge and motivate each others’ political thoughts/views and I know many people on my floor who are a part of that, so you will want to look into that. Moreover, the Tisch College of Civic life offers more than 100 paid summer internships (search Tisch Summer Fellows) only available for Tufts undergrads ranging from volunteering at the Boston Asian Historical society to being congressional support fellows and policy research interns at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Also, there are many consulting/econ groups on campus if you are preprofessional, and you can look at groups such as 180 Degrees Consulting, TAMID, Tufts Consulting Collective. I know many grads who ended up landing top notch econ/analyst/consulting jobs on wall street and many top notch local firms. You can’t go wrong with either though I would definitely consider cost to be a very important factor. Good luck choosing!
@Bjklw2a Thank you so much for the information! We will definitely check it out on Jumbo Day and reach out people to talk more about the academics at Tufts . By the way, how do you think if freshmen is out of state from west coast, as a minority Asian American, is it easy to adapt to the culture at Tufts? Any support from student group or school ?
@polaris12 I am Asian American from New England who spent his childhood internationally. I know many Asian Americans who adapt well on campus. There are different groups of Asian Americans on campus, but if you are willing to reach out to people, it isn’t hard to find your spot on campus, even just for a friend or two, and people are definitely willing to reach out also.
@Mastadon Thanks for the CS information. For people who admitted into school of A&S, can they transfer to school of Engineering ? What is the chance and any requirements for transfer ?
@polaris123 - This may sound crazy to you, but engineering at Tufts is very inclusive. There is no competition to get in and there is no attempt to weed out. To transfer in all you need is a C- average in the courses associated with the introductory engineering sequence. The spirit of the requirements is that you have to have made enough progress toward an engineering degree to make it likely that you can graduate in 4 years (i.e. before your financial aid runs out).
Sophomore year transfers have more course requirements than freshman transfers because your classmates have progressed further in the engineering sequence and you need to keep up with them. If you want to transfer junior or senior year you need to provide evidence that you have a means to pay for more than 4 years. This prevents any surprises associated with running out of money before you complete the graduation requirements for a degree.
The biggest challenge associated with transferring into engineering is that the number of courses required to graduate is higher than for liberal arts, and the courses all build on each other so you have to take them in a certain sequence. This makes it harder to transfer as time goes by. If you know ahead of time that that you might want to transfer, the best thing to do is pretend you are an engineer from the beginning and take the engineering prerequisite courses. This allows you to see if you like the courses and can handle the extra course load. If you do, you submit the transfer request.
