Hi guys, I have been recently pulled off from Vassar’s waitlist, and that has put me into a struggle of trying to decide between Vassar and Tufts.
I am interested in the humanities (English, history, philosophy, and religion) and studio art. I know that people usually say Vassar’s strength lies in the humanities and the arts. Yet, when I visited, my tour guide told me that the studio art curriculum at Vassar “needs some improvement," which worries me a bit.
I have been accepted to Tufts’ combined-degree program with the SMFA at Tufts, meaning that in 5 years, I can earn a BFA degree from the SMFA at Tufts and a BS or BA degree from Tufts’ school of arts and sciences. I was super excited about this program; however, when I went to the revisit day, I was a little unimpressed by the SMFA’s facility—it’s very small. I think Tufts’ most popular majors are IR, econ, psych…While I don’t want to take that as necessarily a reflection of Tufts’ lack of strength in the humanities, I am kind of ignorant of Tufts’ humanities programs, especially regarding to how it would compare to Vassar’s.
Also, my dad and some family friends insist that Tufts has a little bit of an edge over Vassar when it comes to prestige, which I personally doubts.
I have to decide within 4 days; all your help will be deeply appreciated!
Thank you very much!
Hi! Congrats on your acceptances. I would say that, as a matter of overall reputation, Vassar is significantly more prestigious. Better faculty, grad school acceptance rates, more money per student, MUCH more beautiful campus… Tufts is fine but average. Fortunately for you, I think this is a clear choice!
Congrats on your acceptance! @daniel212 where are you getting that information from? No offense, but from your previous posts, you seem to be bashing every school that is not Vassar lmao. “Got a terrible vibe from Wesleyan, the mood is hostile” and “Smith’s campus is really falling apart, I get the sense that Vassar has far more resources.” but nice job defending Vassar if that’s where you go 
I have always viewed Tufts as having an edge in prestige over Vassar, Tufts being a peer of Georgetown/Rice while Vassar a bit less, more like a peer of NYU (Both Tufts and Vassar, however, are awesome schools without too much prestige difference).Tufts’ SAT score avg for the Class of 2020 Admitted was 680-750 Reading and 690-770 Math (14% admit rate) compared to Vassar’s 650-740 Math and 670-750 Reading (26.9% admit rate). In fact, my Tufts interviewer chose Tufts over Penn and Brown and I chose Tufts over Emory.
Sure, Vassar may have more money per student, but I don’t agree on grad school acceptance rates or better faculty. Tufts has many faculty who also teach at Harvard and MIT and constantly sends students to top graduate schools like Harvard. For example, most of its recent graduating pre-law class that applied to law school is going to Harvard Law. Vassar is smaller but both offer small class sizes and more undergrad focus compared to huge research universities. Tufts being close to (20min subway ride) from Boston also gives it better opportunities for internships, research opportunities, and social life compared to Vassar being 1.5 hours from NYC. And hey, Boston is a great city, I love love everywhere from Chinatown to Boston Harbor. With all of its historical and cultural feel, Boston just gives an individual feel that is less overwhelming than NYC.
Anyways, you can’t go wrong at both and it’s really your choice on where you wanna go. Tufts has the quirkier and more outgoing vibe whereas Vassar is more individual based. Good luck wherever you choose!
@Bjklw2a Thank you very much for the those data! But given that you seem to be a current student at Tufts, or have gone to Tufts, what would you say about the school’s humanities departments (again: English, History, Philosophy–I know about prof Daniel Dennett, but anything else?), Anthropology (mostly Sociology) and Psychology programs?
Also what would be your perception of the Combined-Degree Program with the SMFA?
I am very uncertain regarding my future major, but I do know that it will be along the lines of the fields of study that I just mentioned above. My ultimate goal is to become what I tend to call a “visual journalist,” who tells stories of those underrepresented who might lack the agency to self-articulate, through probably either drawing / painting or films.
Does that goal sound like it fits the atmosphere at Tufts? (Because I almost only hear people in the Tufts 2021 FB chat talking about IR, premed, prelaw, and engineering, which gives me an impression that Tufts is pretty preprofessional) Would Tufts really allow me to thrive as a humanities + art person? (Given that I know the ultimate determinant of such question is my own determination.)
Many thanks!
@danielsjang Thank you! But can you offer some more specified reasons as to why you think Vassar would be a better choice? I am personally not predominantly concerned about prestige, I only mentioned that as a side-note. (And I personally still get the sense that Tufts and Vassar are rather equal in terms of prestige). So if you can offer any insights regarding Vassar’s Studio Art and Film programs, that will be great!
Again—thank you!
@SashaFonn Psych is definitely as strong as Bio at the undergrad level, and both Psychology and Bio are very well regarded and top notch at Tufts as well as in the Northeast. I am just entering the Class of 2021 as a Bio/Physics major so I do not know much about SMFA combined degree or humanities, but I have a friend who is doing Art at SMFA with CS and he seems to be extremely excited for the program. Though I do not know much about humanities, I found a thread about English and Philosophy at Tufts that you may want to look at. Best of luck!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/938315-english-philosophy-departments.html
Congratulations! Two great choices! Please read my detailed post on the Vassar forum.
D is at Tufts, class of 2019, majoring in Child Development, which seems to be developmental psychology. That particular department (Child Development) is one of the strongest in the country. She was admitted ED, but would have applied to Vassar RD, as she felt the schools were substantially similar in terms of general student body character— liberal to progressive politically; tending to eclecticism; a bit artsy (stronger at Vassar); quite independent minded. We saw Vassar as somewhat harder to get into (according to her college counselor) – whether that translates into prestige is an open question. I think if other factors aren’t predominant (financial aid, proximity to home, other things specific to you) you have two very good choices and should go with where you think you’ll be most satisfied and which is the best “fit.” Tufts’ campus is very pretty, and certainly not “average.” Boston was definitely a big draw for my daughter, as she wanted proximity to good clubs, music, art museums and a variety of experiences. She also takes the T into Harvard Square and studies/writes there. So lots of options for getting off campus. People are turning down seemingly more prestigious schools for Tufts more frequently. A friend’s son just turned down Amherst and Wesleyan for Tufts.
Tufts is very strong in the humanities and is certainly not a pre-professional school. Part of the philosophy of distribution requirements is to encourage broad liberal arts literacy, and to encourage students to consider different coursework than just targeted for assumed career requirements. SMFA is well respected as an art school and is associated with a major museum which gives the fine arts education additional credit. Access to big city art museums and galleries may be a real plus for you. Tufts ID gets you into the Harvard museums, and there is the Gardener and a wide variety of other places. Vassar is near NYC but it is more than a quick afternoon excursion to go to the museums there. Also, you might want to look at film and media studies as a major. It speaks to your “visual journalist” aspirations. But wherever you go, take time to explore before you commit to a major.