^ Tufts is unlikely to offer a more compelling financial package, since it does not have a merit scholarship program like WUSTL does. It does have a higher percentage of Pell Grant recipients, although obviously this is not awarded by the school.
My S2 was considering these 2 schools seriously as well. (He had nearly applied to JHU ED but after a second visit, an overnight and 2 class visits, it became clear that stem cast too long a shadow on that campus for someone who’s an English major.) After 2 visits to Tufts and WUSTL, he ultimately chose tufts bc he felt it suited him better in terms of its vibe and he preferred the location, which he thought also fed into tufts’ vibe. His 2 best friends from high school attend WUSTL and northwestern. He’s visited them both since they began college and he’s thrilled he’s at tufts. Granted, his friend at northwestern is in a frat and when my son visited, they happened to be throwing big parties & he wasn’t having the thoughtful conversations he typically has at tufts. He still liked WUSTL but his friend isn’t entirely happy there, partly because the dorms are economically segregated. He’s on financial aid and can’t spend up for the nicer dorms. He thinks most ppl hang with those in their dorms for at least the first/second year and it makes for a weird setting in that fin aid ppl are hanging together and non-fin-aid ppl are hanging together. (He’s also not loving the strong pre-professional vibe, which may not matter to you.) Tufts doesn’t charge different prices for different dorms. In housing anyway, everyone is treated the same.
If there’s a chance you can visit these schools once again, I’d recommend doing that & asking kids in the dining halls what it’s like being a student at these schools. And sitting in on classes is worthwhile too. My son loved the discussions he heard in classes at tufts, WUSTL and brown, but was disappointed at JHU. One of the profs there actually dismissed the class 15 mins early bc he got irate when no one could discuss their reading in a writing seminars class. Told my son to ignore it bc it was a good dept but then son sat in on another class & that was equally silent. That’s all it took to not want to apply ED. He wanted a more vibrant, intellectual humanities community & he’s found it at tufts.
Oh, and forgot to mention that my kid as a freshman and sophomore got off campus quite a bit. Many tufts students go to Davis and Harvard squares on weekends. He took his GF to a whole day bugs bunny movie festival at Brattle street theater (I think that’s its name…a theater in Harvard sq) for valentine’s day, lol. And goes into boston too for Celtic games, for classes & dates at the BMFA (he took an African art class to meet his non-western civ requirement), and even to the aquarium. Boston, Cambridge & Medford are cool places. Lots to do. And transportation from tufts is easy.
@MurphyBrown, I’m not sure what the answer is to your question or what the price difference is, but it would make sense that it will come out of your pocket. And that won’t change the separation on campus between the haves and the have nots.
My kids are (were) full pay (older son graduated from brown last year) and some of their best friends are/were on financial aid. My oldest lived in an on-campus theme house for 3 years that included students who went to the finest boarding schools, like Andover, and students who were first-generation and couldn’t go home for any break. And they all became friends and learned from each other. Younger son is getting the same experience at tufts. But some ppl may not care if they experience this in college and others really want to meet all sorts of people. There is no right or wrong here. It’s different strokes for different folks. My neighbor’s son liked holy cross because it felt like a country club to him, both the campus itself and the homogeneity. That wouldn’t have been my kids’ ideal school.
Thank you for your input! I am definitely not interested in a pre-professional atmosphere so when you say “He’s also not loving the strong pre-professional vibe,” that helps a lot. To confirm, WUSTL has more of a pre-professional atmosphere than Tufts?
With respect to dorms at WashU: A student on financial aid can choose to pay more for a modern (more expensive) dorm. The price difference this year was about $700 per year, at least for freshmen and sophomores living in doubles. Lots of students prefer the traditional (older) dorms–they have a reputation for being more social. Here’s a link with current costs:
https://reslife.wustl.edu/applying-for-housing/room-rates/
Regarding Economic Diversity raised by @brantly above – a valid point. However, the University has announced a focused effort to increase the number of Pell Grant recipients over the next five years. There have been a few articles on progress to date and the targets – unfortunately none from 2016. Here is a sample – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/29/washington-university-diversity_n_7690054.html
It will be interesting to see how diverse this next incoming class is – but given the University’s ongoing fundraising priorities that earmark resources to address the needs of those needing financial assistance, I would expect the positive trend to continue. Wash U definitely has a ways to go.