Accepted to both. I’m from the west coast. Any thoughts?
Any thoughts ?
Yes. Both are great schools academically, but different culturally.
Vanderbilt University belongs to the SEC. Football is important.
Nashville versus Boston.
Also, that your post shares too little information.
Last November you were a parent with an 11th grade student looking at language immersion courses for summer 2020. This post implies that you are a HS senior deciding between 2 colleges. If you are the parent, and want info to help your student choose say so. You will get more helpful responses if you give more info on what the important variables are for you/your student.
I actually have 2 children one in 11th grade and one who is a senior. I didn’t realize that each time I posted I had to clarify which child I was discussing. ??
More that the way this post reads is as a student (which will elicit different responses than a parent).
Thanks for the feedback. D is debating which academics are better? Which has better internship opportunities? Is Vanderbilt too much of a party school? Does Tufts lack a social scene?
The Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020 can be helpful.
Fiske rates Tufts at 4.5 Pens for Academics & Vanderbilt at 4 Pens. (5 Pens is the highest rating for academics.)
For social life, Vanderbilt recieved a 4, while Tufts received a 3 rating. (3 is the most common rating for 5 pen academic schools).
For quality of life, both schools received a rating of 4.
No, Vanderbilt is not too much of a party school.
Fiske gave 15 schools a 5 for social life (party school):
ASU, Dartmouth, Georgia, Florida, Lafayette, Ohio Wesleyan, LSU, Penn State, Univ. of New Hampshire, Univ. of Vermont, Univ. of Delaware, Ithaca College, Denison University, Lafayette College, & Univ. of Colorado at Boulder.
Fiske rates only the best 320 or so colleges & universities.
Since you do not mention cost I assume that you can easily afford both schools.
Correction on my post #6 above. I forgot to list the University of Dayton among the 15 “party schools” as rated by the Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020.
@Publisher thanks for the information. We’ve read the Fiske information. Always a great resource. Was just hoping to get feedback from a parent (or student) who might have first-hand knowledge. Obviously unable to visit either school now which we were planning to do over spring break.
I know many parents with students at Vanderbilt or whose kids are fairly recent graduates of Vanderbilt. The parents’ praise for Vanderbilt University is unequaled. Truthfully, I cannot recall even one negative word.
Tufts is a great school. Occasional grumbling about how Tufts was not the first choice school as student did not get into targeted Ivy.
Really comes down to preferred weather, Nashville versus Boston, and SEC sports versus ???
The campus cultures are different, but The Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020 should cover that aspect.
@Publisher thanks this really helps.
Both are great schools and very tough admits, especially Vanderbilt at our kids’ HS. Agree with @Publisher about happiness of kids and parents with Vandy. Less experience with Tufts – saw campus in summer when students were gone and it also was after hours, so no official tour. Went after seeing Harvard and MIT. It was very nice, but so is Vanderbilt’s. Another thing I like about Vanderbilt is that it is the best school in the state and a tippy top school in a large region (along with Duke and some others), whereas in the Boston area alone there are multiple elite schools, not to mention others in New England. That could be a pro or a con for you. Definitely nice to be able to meet kids at other nearby colleges.
Tufts is more suburban being Medford and Sommerville, whereas Vandy is more in the city, very close to downtown. Nashville is a great city and not as southern as it was 20-30 years ago. Plenty of California kids at Vanderbilt too. My only reservation about Vanderbilt is that Greek life is significant, and I prefer colleges that either have none or it is a small part of the social experience. Tufts has Greek life as well (not sure how active it is), so I guess that does not differentiate the schools much.
Tufts also has 28 varsity sports and is smaller than Vanderbilt, which only has 16 varsity sports. So a higher % of the student body will be varsity athletes at Tufts, and athletes sometimes dominate the social scene at other schools in the Division III NESCAC (Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Middlebury…). Tufts plays in that athletic conference despite being more than twice the size of most in the NESCAC and significantly larger than all others in that conference. So the athlete/non-athlete divide will probably not be as pronounced as it can be at those smaller schools, but likely will be more of a factor than at Vanderbilt.
In sum, both excellent schools – just depends on what your D is looking for. I personally would pick Vandy.
I am a Tufts grad (89) and a mom of D22. We live in Atlanta and just recently visited both Vandy and Tufts.
Academically: they seem comparable and I don’t think either one is so far ahead of the other in terms of name recognition outside of their specific region (everyone knows Vandy in the south and Tufts in NE - but outside of those areas, I would guess it is 50-50)
Weather: Vandy is warmer but kind of hot and humid VS Tufts cold and grey/dark earlier at night in the winter months (and plenty hot/humid in August/September)
Campus: Vandy campus is larger, looks/feels newer (particularly the dining halls), has the grouping of dorms for freshman year and working on two new ‘college system’ type dorms. Tufts just re-did some of the frosh dorms, had a new senior dorm - only guarantees 2 years of housing but there was never any trouble finding a house off campus (one block over from the school).
Area nearby: Both had pockets of suspicious areas and beautiful neighborhoods, so that’s a draw
Bigger City circle: Which would fit your child better - Nashville or Boston for 3rd and 4th year itch to leave the college bubble
Students we met/spoke with: Absolutely everyone at Vandy was so happy - loved the school, the people, the town, etc. - and they all seemed very nice. At Tufts, everyone was really happy too and nice/easygoing, they all seemed pleased with the balance of Medford and Boston but not everyone was super thrilled with their experience at Tufts.
Social stuff: Greek Life seems more important at Vandy BUT not the regular be all/end all of the other SEC schools for social life
We always thought that our kids would leave the south and go to NE or CA for college - then we toured Vandy and heard what her preferred department was offering and she is IN LOVE and we are impressed (she rated Vandy a 9, Brown an 8, Tufts a 7.8 which was largely influenced by ‘vibe’ and department of choice). If she gets into the department she wants to, we would not have a problem giving her the go-ahead.
Vanderbilt stood out to be at College Niche’s ratings. The students rated it so highly in all areas and seemed to be so very happy with the school compared to most other colleges. It seems like a happy place with great academics.
My D18 is at Vanderbilt (VU2022) now and loves it. We have a family friend with a senior at Tufts and know a little about Tufts but haven’t personally visited. Both schools are consider strong academically I would think that Vanderbilt has a bit of an edge on brand name and ranking (if you care about that).
Yes Vandy is part of the SEC but the big teams on campus are Baseball, Women’s Soccer, Track and Field/Cross Country, Men’s Golf and Bowling (yes, you read that right!) as far as scoring/ranking and being known in the SEC and nationally. However football season is fun (the boys of fall do try hard!) and you do get the SEC tailgating experience as many alum and locals like to come out to see football games (locals mostly to watch opposing teams).
There is a work hard, play hard aspect at Vanderbilt for those who are inclined to want to play hard. My D isn’t in that party group, just not her thing. However she finds many things to be involved with and to do on campus that aren’t alcohol related. And the party isn’t the only thing going on like at schools in smaller areas or big state school … there are parks to hike and museums to visit and local sports (Preds and Titans are fun to do if you like pro sports) and a variety of music concerts and such rolling through Nashville. And all around campus within walking distance there is great food! Many of the great restaurants around campus are part of your Dining Plan!
She likes going to the cultural festivals on campus and loves that fact that her school is very diverse with not just Americans from all over our country with different cultural backgrounds but international students from all over the world. She is a member/officer of a Service fraternity (vs a Social sorority) and that is a great outlet for her. She was on-campus for spring break (had a paper due) and went a day after the tornadoes to help with clean up and handing out blankets.
What is most important to your D when making her choice? Ask and I’ll answer if I can. Good luck with your decisions!
My S19 is a freshman at Vanderbilt and has had a wonderful experience until they had to leave campus. He said everyone was devastated to leave. The residential college system for freshman is great and my son loved his dorm. They also do a year long orientation program for freshman where about 20 kids (from various dorms) are paired with one student leader, one faculty person etc. They meet weekly and do different fun activities to help get adjusted to college life. S19 met a lot of friends through that group as well as on his floor. When we hung out on campus during parents’ weekend, the students seemed very happy and friendly. A lot of kids do participate in Greek life but there is plenty to do for those who aren’t interested and Nashville is such a fun city. Even though my son is a big sports fan, he didn’t talk much about attending the campus sporting events but it’s nice that they are available. He’s been happy with his classes and professors as well.
@ASKMother and elena13…thank you for your insightful comments. My Junior D and I visited Vandy this last January (glad we squeezed it in given the current circumstances) and we both loved the campus, the tour and the overall environment. We are on West Coast and many of her Senior friends have decided to go to UC’s all of a sudden (I think some have to do with the pandemic). She is still keen on Vandy but always happy to hear good things!