<p>Could someone compare the academics of Tulane and Tufts?</p>
<p>What are you interested in?</p>
<p>Music, (besides the music scene in the city), linguistics, languages, intellectual and creative atmosphere on campus.</p>
<p>Music, linguistics and languages are all strong at Tulane, although if you have a specific language in mind you would need to check first. So much depends on the specifics. Tufts reputation for an intellectual atmosphere is no doubt better, while Tulane probably wins on creative. Lots more Liberal Arts emphasis at Tulane among the students.</p>
<p>But frankly, these kinds of comparisons between two schools that both have high level offerings and bright, creative students is rather useless. It all depends on so many factors, two people could say they were looking for the exact same things, get to a school and one have a great experience and the other not so much.</p>
<p>Have you visited both schools? If so, any opinions based on overall feel?</p>
<p>Why only Tulane & Tufts? Are you limited to schools beginning with T?</p>
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<p>Strangely enough my hs sophmore son is contemplating this too.
Nicer winters in NOLA</p>
<p>I think, also, this is a classic example of where fit makes so much difference. Both are great cities, and great college cities. But the experience one would take from either of these places is going to be so very different. Certain personalities will thrive more in New Orleans (and no, I don’t mean spoiled rich kid frat types that love to drink a lot) while others will find Boston a more enriching experience. I don’t think I can say what these types are, it isn’t that simple. But that is why research and visits and talking to others that have gone to each is so important.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist </p>
<p>I just wanted to clarify:</p>
<p>Tufts’ student body is known for being quite creative (sometimes the term “quirky” will be used). The admissions process actually considers creativity as one of the elements that make up intelligence. An attempt is made to measure creativity and then factor it into the admissions decision along with raw test scores and GPA. This is one of the driving forces behind the infamous “Tufts Supplement”. It is also one of the explanations for “Tufts Syndrome” because someone who has a higher creativity score may be selected over someone with higher raw test scores and GPA (depending on the relative difference). It also results in more of a self-selecting population because many people either do not want to write lots of essays, or do not like to write creative essays at all, so they do not apply. As you might guess it is a controversial process and admissions gets some pressure to drop essays to raise selectivity numbers and improve rankings. Here is an interesting article on the subject. </p>
<p>[Measuring</a> What Matters - Admissions - Multiple Intelligence](<a href=“http://www.scribd.com/condivis/d/82363348-Measuring-What-Matters-Admissions-Multiple-Intelligence]Measuring”>http://www.scribd.com/condivis/d/82363348-Measuring-What-Matters-Admissions-Multiple-Intelligence)</p>
<p>There is also a Harvard case study floating around the net that I can probably dig up if you are interested in this sort of thing.</p>
<p>Mastadon - Good stuff, thanks. Always nice to get inside info about schools, and what you have said is duly noted. My own experience with students that have gone to Tufts is that they tended to be more left brain, but of course that is a relatively small sample and perhaps somewhat non-random.</p>
<p>Of course, the real issue with any of these kinds of questions is that all generalizations are rubbish for the individual cases. Schools like Tufts, Tulane, Vanderbilt, etc. are all more similar than different in most academic aspects, and so the student trying to decide is forced to consider factors they can only guess at or experience superficially in a short visit. Such is the nature of college admissions among the more selective institutions.</p>