<p>We used to have a thread that listed everyone’s reasons for liking Tufts, but it’s off the forum now because it was too old. I think we should keep the positive vibe going. Add as you think of reasons! Here go some of mine:</p>
<li>Everyone speaks or is learning another language.</li>
<li>Even the frat kids aren’t truly “frat-like.” Everyone’s low-key and fun.</li>
<li>I feel connected to everyone on campus; so even if I don’t know you, you know someone I know and we immediately have a topic of conversation to bond over.</li>
<li>My professors are SO accessible. </li>
<li>I’ve never had a TA grade my papers.</li>
<li>Davis Square is the hippest place in Boston, and it’s in our territory!</li>
<li>Anna’s Taqueria. 'Nuff said.</li>
<li>The Naked Quad Run.</li>
<li>Tisch College of Citizenship & Public Service.</li>
<li>In the same vein, the fact that the community service group, Leonard Carmichael Society, is the biggest extracurricular at Tufts shows what type of great people I go to school with.</li>
<li>Everyone reads the Tufts Daily.</li>
<li>The President’s Lawn on a sunny day.</li>
<li>The view from the Tisch Library rooftop.</li>
<li>Making out on the Tisch Library rooftop.</li>
</ol>
<p>Well, I wouldn't know much about #14, LolaBelle. ;)</p>
<ol>
<li>Coffee with professors. Dinner at prof's houses.</li>
<li>The engineers have social graces. ;)</li>
<li> The engineers are very well-rounded - a lot of them take a second major or a minor in the liberal arts.<br></li>
<li> The way that students help each other. The classes that would be cutthroat at other schools, like orgo, are not that way at Tufts - fellow students share notes and study together.</li>
<li> Brown & Brew.</li>
<li> The food - the veggie options, stir-fry night, Belgian waffles...</li>
<li>Studying in Tisch next to those huge windows.</li>
<li> Tufts is gorgeous at this time of year.</li>
<li> The alums.<br></li>
<li> Accessibility isn't limited to the profs. The deans are great, too.</li>
<li> IM softball.</li>
<li> Fares lecture series.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>The size is absolutely perfect -- not too big, not too small. Walking from South back to my dorm in Hill Hall, I'll almost always see someone I know, or several someones. I would hate feel invisible all the time.</li>
<li>The location -- it's outside of the city of Boston, and has its own groovy little college town (= Davis Square), but it's just a hop on the T to get into the most awesome college city in the country. It's a perfect balance for those who don't want a rural environment, and those who don't want an urban setting.</li>
<li>The kids here in Healthy Living know how to have some good clean fun. No one is socially awkward, as the stereotype of sub-free living seems to be.<br></li>
<li>The diversity is so amazing here! It was important to me before I got here, but now I am just beginning to realize just how much you learn from people with different backgrounds than you.</li>
<li>Ballroom dancing is cool. (i.e. more than 100 people signed up for it)</li>
<li>The Tufts Daily is so much fun to read; I look forward to it every day!</li>
<li>They really will have classes on the quad, just like in the college brochures.</li>
<li>Doing homework/lounging on the President's Lawn is quite fun.</li>
<li>Gubernatorial candidates come give inspiring speeches here, and then win the primary.</li>
<li>The hills help keep off the freshman 15, and they're actually not that bad after awhile. Back home in L.A., we drive if the destination is more than three blocks away. So I'm getting some really good exercise here, and in fact, I now like the hills, because it gives the campus a more varied landscape.</li>
<li>I like seeing what's been painted on the cannon.</li>
<li>Getting in free to museums in Boston because of my Tufts ID is pretty awesome.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Sledding down the hill in front of Tisch Library, using trays from Dewick Dining Hall.</li>
<li>Hamilton Pool in the early mornings, when the only other people doing laps are old ladies from Medford. It's so peaceful.</li>
<li>The International Relations program. Hands down.</li>
<li>Spring Fling (except when Busta Rhymes sends us bad luck and makes it rain).</li>
<li>The incredible study abroad programs Tufts runs. Better than any programs I've seen others take (Columbia, NYU, IES, Butler, etc.).</li>
<li>Unlimited meal plan freshman year. Having freshmen meal you in once you're an upperclassmen.</li>
<li>The nice cafeteria ladies and gentlemen at Dewick and Carmichael.</li>
<li>The Ginn Library at the Fletcher School. Mahogany shelves, old books, and spectacular chandelier which only helps me procrasinate...</li>
<li>Painting the cannon.</li>
<li>Painting Jumbo (yes, I know this is unorthodox, but if you do it at night, by the time you wake up, it'll be painted over, and really, you only do the statue a service).</li>
<li>Matriculation: candelight ceremony on the President's Lawn.</li>
<li>The "secret" living rooms in the Campus Center.</li>
<li>The smoothies at Hotung Cafe.</li>
<li>The classes you can take at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.</li>
<li>The classes you can take at the New England Conservatory of Music.</li>
<li>The double-degree programs (Fletcher, SMFA, NECM, Tufts Med, Tufts Vet, Tufts Nutrition, etc.)</li>
<li>Tuftslife.com organizes my life for me.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>The active citizenship component of everyone's life on this campus.</li>
<li>Sound Bites on a weekend morning.</li>
<li>The film library at Tisch. (They have every obscure film you've never heard of; every major one; and if they happen to be missing something, they'll order it for you!)</li>
<li>The Public Journal -- know what your classmates are REALLY like. ;-) (<a href="http://www.tuftspublicjournal.com%5B/url%5D">www.tuftspublicjournal.com</a>)</li>
<li>Daniel Dennett, philosopher extraordinaire.</li>
<li>Homecoming. (next weekend!!!)</li>
<li>Taking classes at the Fletcher school.</li>
<li>In fact, being able to take classes at nearly every Tufts graduate school.</li>
<li>Intramural sports.</li>
<li>International Letters and Visual Studies major has opened up my world. (In addition to my IR major, of course).</li>
<li>Boston and College Aves. parties</li>
<li>Tufts Community Day.</li>
<li>Senior Week (or so I've heard... I'll find out this year!).</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Because it has the no. 1 ranked undergrad IR program in the nation! :-) (I'm having a field day with this one, especially since I just found out it's been ranked no. 1 for awhile now!)</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li> The "Attention Please...." recording that goes off at exactly 12:45, 12:50, and 12:55 am in Tisch. While I may have nightmares of this man's voice now, I know that I will miss it dearly.</li>
<li> The LCS Faculty-serves-on-you dinner. It's really a great community event and shows how commited the faculty are to their students.</li>
<li> The fact that you and 15 of you friends can apply to start your own organization, and have Tufts pay you to keep it running.</li>
<li> The fact that "that eBay guy" (aka Pierre Omidyar) is a Tufts alum, along with Hank Azaria, Peter Gallagher, Tracy Chapman, Meredith Vieira...the list of Jumbos goes on.</li>
<li> Speaking of which- the fact that our school mascot is an ELEPHANT! This actually represents Tufts very well. We are an institution that has a huge presence, yet we still have fun and do not take ourselves so seriously that we have a mascot like...a quaker or something...</li>
<li> In addition to Anna's/Soundbites for brunch, getting Rose's sushi delivered, going to Espresso's with the mixed Tufts/Med-fud late night crowd at 1am...and the fact that Italian (North End), cafes on Newbury St., Japanese @ Porter Square, and just about every other imaginable type of food are in our backyard.<br></li>
<li> West Hall pre-NQR. By far one of the most fun experiences I have encountered @ Tufts.</li>
<li> Sophia Gordon (the new Senior eco-friendly dorm)- damn it's nice</li>
<li> All of the smiles exchanged, doors held open, and friendly "stop and chat's" shared on a daily basis (which prove contagious!)</li>
<li> Senior Pub Nights (can't wait)</li>
<li> Wandering around campus right after a blizzard and realizing that the cold weather and subsequent slips and slides are completely worth it given the winter wonderland of a campus that we call home (santa not included)</li>
<li> The 5 o'clock Goddard bells...during a 4-5:15 Philisophy class located across the quad. Good times...</li>
<li> The Bacows. We all secretly have a pseudo crush on Larry/Adele</li>
<li> Walking by a group of prospective students on a tour, realizing that you were once one of them lost in the game of college admissions, and feeling that much more confident that you are at the place where you belong. Your smile reassures the group of paranoid high schoolers that they can make the same choice.</li>
<li> The Med-fud accent. Even better than the Boston accent.</li>
<li> The dining staff at the dining halls. They are like your grandparents- always wanting to make sure you eat a healthy meal and taking suggestions for new recipes.</li>
<li> Walking back from the library at 3am on the academic quad, among the sprinklers...taking in the scenery and reflecting</li>
<li> The candy at Jumbo Express</li>
<li> Taking the elevator at Dowling to walk to/from the gym. Or even better- seeing the full parking lot of people who drove to the gym.</li>
<li> Walking around campus for 5 minutes and hearing cell phone conversations in 7 languages.</li>
<li> The Joey, and the fact that we have a GPS navigation system that gives the exact location.</li>
<li> Specialty nights at Carmichael.</li>
<li> The myriad of events going on throughout campus, and the amazing chalkings that are used to advertise them (seriously...some of them are worth or framing)</li>
<li> The fact that we're all closet nerds without being socially inept. We're down to earth and damn happy (#7 happiest students baby!)</li>
</ol>
<p>Rightbackat you- No need to be an a$$ on this forum. THis thread is specifically to point out what you like about Tufts not to be a sarcastic prick. And as someone who said you personally have a very diverse group of friends, don't make assumptions about other people. Anyway,this will sound slike your kindergarten teacher, but this is one thread where if you don't have anything else nice to say don't say it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Meeting friends of every possible race, ethnicity, and background. I'll never forget bringing home friends for Easter brunch. I'm an atheist from a Catholic family. My Protestant/Chinese roomie, my Hindu Indian friend, and a Jewish friend came along. At one point, we all looked at each other, laughed, and said, "Only at Tufts!"</p></li>
<li><p>World Tufts Day! (This Thursday, the 19th, alumni are gathering in their respective chapters around the world for lectures, happy hours, and other activities.)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>"At one point, we all looked at each other, laughed, and said, "Only at Tufts!""</p>
<p>LOL, Quite possibly the lamest thing ever said in the history of civilization. Seriously dude, wow. Just wow.</p>
<p>Anyways...</p>
<ol>
<li> Using the Primary Source as an unbrella</li>
<li> Using the Primary Source to set a fire</li>
<li> Using the Primary Source to set fire to a stack of Primary Source issues.</li>
</ol>
<p>Dude, I'm serious, I don't think there has been one time I've picked up that magazine and not been offended in a very deep way. </p>
<p>Ordinarilly this might not mean much at an ultra-liberal institution like Tufts, but this fact becomes ever more distressing when I consider the fact that I'M A CONSERVATIVE!!!</p>
<p>A more tasteless attempt at distributing maliciously intended lies under the cover of student political analysis I cannot imagine. It's circulation discredits the entire institution in my humble opinion.</p>