Tufts

<p>What is Tufts reputation and prestige level? What schools are considered on-par with it reputation wise? (if you are just going to tell me that reputation and prestige do not matter please do not post in response here NOT because I do not agree with you in some respect as I have based my search thus far disregarding prestige, but now that I have narrowed down my list I would like to know the schools' reputation)</p>

<p>Tufts has a very good academic reputation. It is also thought of as being a nice place to go to school and benefits by being in Boston.</p>

<p>I would say that its prestige level is on par with schools like Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, and Rice. The only thing is, since it does not have a huge athletic program or anything, it is very well respected in the Northeast but perhaps not nationally.</p>

<p>Anybody else? Any opinion on Tufts in regard to how the overall expierence is at the school?</p>

<p>I'd say RCMan has about the right idea. I would disagree somewhat with it being more well-respected in the northeast...perhaps it is only known the the man on the street in the northeast (if even that) but in terms of reputation within academia, I'm sure it is well-respected everywhere.
I agree with his determination of peer schools, as well as the fact that Boston is a draw. I believe it is seen as excellent in terms of overall experience--it has both the benefits of being a research university, as well as being small and having personal attention. It has school spirit, without having a sports/frats dominated culture. It has traditionally been a safety school for the ivy league, but became stereotyped for rejecting overqualified students who were unlikely to matriculate. More recently, though, it has, along with most colleges, become more selective, and I would not call it a true safety for anyone, though it is certainly viable for a non-crazy-superstar student.</p>

<p>Tufts has a good to excellent study body, but suffers mightily from being in Boston and thus in the shadow of Harvard and MIT. No matter what Tufts will always be a distant #3 to these schools in the local market. And the local market is critical for Tufts as 22% of the students come from Massachusetts and 56% are from the Northeast. Prestige-wise, the school suffers badly among academics (again proximity to Harvard/MIT hurt) as the school only has a USNWR Peer Assessment score of 3.7 (Harvard and MIT are both 4.9). In the real world. Tufts grads do just fine. Employers know about the quality students that attend although the placement and name recognition is strongest by far in New England. Statistically, Tufts would be a competitor to many of the schools previously mentioned-Emory, ND, Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbilt although Rice is stronger. In practice, however Tufts' applicant pool likely does not have a lot of overlap with these schools and the more common competitor is the lower Ivies and the many excellent LACs found in the Northeast.</p>

<p>It's funny because many of the students I've talked to at Tufts are southerns who were rejected/preferred from either Rice, Vandy, UVA, or Emory. It's seem to be often valued as merely a Ivy back-up or a mere alternative to the aforementioned institutions. I'm not sure if there will ever be a day when Tufts will be fully-respected as the great insitution it really is.</p>

<p>I love it here, the location near the city is excellent, and I honestly wouldn't go anywhere else. I have friends at nearly every school I would consider going to in the top 50 or so, and honestly, I feel as though I have had the best experience of all of them. The people here are fantastic, and they truly care about the world. The ideal of active citizenship permeates throughout the campus. The classes are very small, the campus is nice and cozy, yet right next to Boston and Davis Square which is fun, and of course ~35 other colleges right nearby. Prestige-wise, it has in the past been noted as an "Ivy-Backup", but it's losing that rep, as I know plenty of kids in my class and past ones who chose Tufts over the Ivy's, that's right, even Harvard every once in a while for one reason or another (and before anyone barks, yes, it is rare, but it does happen). To exemplify the fact that I have a great time here, I am a tour guide, which I do for absolutely no money or credit, and I volunteer in the admissions office for various things. Obviously sports here aren't huge, but the NESCAC is definitely a fierce DIII division, and we are DI in Sailing and Squash, consistently beating the likes of the Naval Academy in Sailing...not sure if that's a good thing, lol. There is plenty of opportunity to research, internships in Boston, etc. I could go on and on, it's a great place. Tufts is not for everyone, but at the same time there is not "typical" student at all, it's a very diverse bunch, and I love it.</p>

<p>It has a split personality to it. Until about thirty or forty years ago it wasn't much bigger than Wesleyan. Then, it began attracting money and rebranding itself as a research university. In a few years, they see themselves as becoming "the next Brown". But, it's almost impossible not to think of other Boston colleges such as, BU, BC and Holy Cross -- not to mention Harvard and MIT -- when one thinks of Tufts. To add to the confusion, they still play primarily NESCAC colleges (Middlebury, Bates, etc.) athletically.</p>

<p>^ Yep, I would agree mostly, there is the idea of "Tufts College", which is reminiscent in the NESCAC, but then the idea of "Tufts University" which is apparent in the Medical School, Fletcher, and the tower they're building at South Station, etc.</p>

<p>Tufts has an excellent academic reputation. It's not known to every layman the way HYP is, but if you've heard of Dartmouth, Williams, Pomona, etc. Tufts is right up there.</p>

<p>Although some outsiders consider Tufts' proximity to other great schools a negative (let's face it: Harvard even casts a shadow over Yale, and that's in CT), it's probably a positive for the student experience at Tufts. Tufts students can take classes at other schools, participate in collaborative research, find books through the shared library system, and benefit from the college driven social life in Boston. This gives Tufts a "best of both worlds" appeal: a small school with a unique reputation that gives its students access to massive resources through its location. Tufts benefits from its neighbors and vice versa.</p>

<p>what are tufts' strongest academic departments?</p>

<p>International Relations (not really a department per se, but interdisciplinary), Political Science, Biology, History, Economics, Child Development, Community Health</p>

<p>I agree with Duffman and would add: English, Foreign Languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, you name it), and Civil Engineering</p>

<p>Tufts has improved in many dimensions over the last 5 or so years. It has a superb president who was recruited by Harvard when Larry Summers resigned but he turned it down. He runs every morning and anyone who wants to talk with him can run with him.</p>

<p>Discerning consumers (for example, Harvard faculty whose kids are looking at colleges) leave Tufts extremely impressed. Tufts professors that I know are excited about the improvement in the school and dramatic strengthening of the student body over the last few years. My sense is that at this point, the student body would be stronger than Emory, Vanderbilt, and Notre Dame (I don't know enough about Rice or Carnegie-Mellon, which is probably strong but tilted towards the sciences), but you can look up the statistics. It feels like a place on the way up. Don't know if that helps.</p>

<p>Tufts-very solid school but as others have said in the same area as Harvard and MIT. Tufts, Brandeis, Holy Cross, and Boston College are all very good schools in the area but not at the level of the Ivies or Amherst/Williams. Also lack of Div1 sports does not help Tufts name recognition.</p>

<p>^ I agree, but would not lump Tufts in with Holy Cross, there's just not really a comparison in terms of resources, etc, and the student body is far different than Brandeis or BC.</p>

<p>Yeah, Tufts' student body is definitely more accomplished than the average students at Holy Cross, BC, and Brandeis (which has the stigma of being the Tufts-reject school, which could be flawed, of course). </p>

<p>The average Tufts student is more on the comparable level to the one at Cornell, Wesleyan, Pomona, Dartmouth, Brown, Georgetown -- varying degrees of selectivity to be sure, but we all know admissions is a crapshoot at such schools, and while one student might have the same stats and ECs as another, one will get into one school and the other to the other, etc.</p>

<p>Tufts is way underrated. In that medium sized range that gets no respect from USNews. Its a great school and if it fits you, then go for it and screw what other people think.</p>

<p>I've gotten the impression that it's just a step below an Ivy. I've been really impressed with everything I've heard about Tufts, and I imagine it will only become more prestigious as time passes. The phrase "Tufts syndrome" didn't originate from nowhere; it came about because Tufts was a default school for many Ivy rejects, and Ivy rejects are still pretty d*** good. The fact that prestige wh***s default to Tufts says something.</p>