Tufts University Top Questions

There are over 200 clubs, and it's hard to fit "most" students into any one of them. Team sports are popular but not many people go to games besides athletes' friends. Lectures and student productions are usually well-attended. I made a few of my close friends through the fencing team, and in general, people tend to make friends based on where they live or the extra curriculars they're involved in. A popular Tufts tradition is the Naked Quad Run, which is at the end of each fall semester. Homecoming and Spring Fling are also fun annual school-wide events. Greek Life is not huge, but during freshman year, frat parties are pretty much the basis of the social scene.

Yes, many Tufts students leave their door opens in the dorms. There are a good amount of couples on campus, but many students just randomally "hook up." Many of my closest friends lived on my floor or are also engineers. People party quite often at Tufts. Most partiers go out quite often on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Fraternities are very important and host a majority of the parties, however, sororities are not so important and aren't allowed to have parties. On Saturday nights you can go to performances on campus, shop in Boston, go to the movies, or just chill with friends in dorms.

Tufts Dance Collective is the most popular group on campus. Friends join and create dances that they perform in front of a huge crowd once a semester, there are no try outs and the dances are hilarious. I am involved in varsity swimming and diving, whose men and womens programs are two of the most successful sports programs at Tufts. The two teams are extremely close and very high spirited. We eat all of our meals together at the dining hall and go to each others meets to cheer each other on. Yes, students leave their doors open. Athletic events could be more well attended, although friends always come and support friends on teams. People are either divided by random hook-ups each weekend or are in serious relationships. 2 am on a Tuesday, either asleep, doing homework, or hanging out with the people in my dorm. Although many students bar hop on Tuesday nights, but I am only a freshman and Boston is very tough on fake I.Ds. Soririties don't have a strong presence on campus. Fraternities can be very exclusive, they should let more people in and have more parties. Last weekend I drove up to Vermont to cheer on the mens swim team at their NESCAC championships, drank in my friends dorm, and went frat hopping. If you don't want to drink you can attend a school play, music concert, or go into Boston.

The largest group is the Leonard Carmichael Society, which is a large community service organization. There basically is a group/club for anything you are interested in. It is also pretty easy to make a group if it's not already existing. For example, this year some freshmen created a Harry Potter Society. Most students leave their doors open, especially if you know and are comfortable with the people on your floor. The easiest way to make friends is to meet the people on your floor or in your dorm. If not that way, then the best way to meet people is to get involved in alot of activities and clubs. If I'm awake at 2am on Tuesday, which is usually the case every day during the week, then I am most definitely doing work. People are up pretty late doing work, and not because there is just that much work to do, but most people don't start their work til late, around 9 or 10 at night. Sororities are not that big at Tufts, but Frats are. Frat parties, especially for freshmen, are the most popular thing to do on campus. If you are not looking to drink, you can always go into Boston. There are so many good restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping areas that are nearby in places like Harvard Square, Cambridge Side Galleria, and Newbury Street.

To generalize the party scene... Tuesday: Pub Night. Those who are 21 or older, or at least those whose ids claim they are, can go off campus to drink and hang out. Most people who do this go to Powder House pub, which isn't very far away. Thirsty Thursday: Some frats will hold parties on Thursdays... the frat scene isn't as big on Thursday as it is on Saturday, but there's usually something to do (especially during the beginning of the school year). Friday: The on-campus social scene is a bit less exciting on Fridays. "Date night" for those with significant others. Saturday: On campus, frats will hold parties (usually with some sort of theme). It's mostly freshmen and sophomores who stay on campus because of Tufts' proximity to Boston (that has all of the fun bars, clubs, etc. that juniors and seniors are old enough to get into).

Social life = frats.

Fraternities are pretty big on campus. They do not dominate social life in that you have to be in one. but as a freshman the fraternities dictate whether or not you have anything to do that night. that probably changes as you get older and more friends live in houses and have parties, etc. tufts democrats is pretty big. a lot of people participate in club soccer or intramural sports. i think there is mostly a well spread out group of people at tufts and there is always someone who does what you want to do. some dorms are better than others. some dorms have warmer hallways than others and this kinda dictates whether or not doors are left open. in the more social dorms doors are always open. athletic events are not terribly popular. but they can be a fun alternative to a typical evening doing work or a saturday afternoon. friends will usually go watch teams their friends play on. depends on the sport as well. football is more popular than boys' soccer. there are loads of guest speakers, performances by dance groups or theater groups - there is always something to do other than go to a party on an given weekend evening. my closest friends are my roommate and my neighbor and then by extension people they have met through classes or their roommate. a lot of my closest friends live in a nearby dorm who we met through my roommates "boyfriend" and then became friends with them either through similar classes or just always being in their dorm. 2 am on a tuesday = doing work traditions and events are a lot of fun at tufts. the most notable is the NQR. tufts tells you it is the night time quad reception. but it is actually the naked quad run. you kind of have to see if for yourself to really believe it. but hundreds of students run around the residential quad at the top of the hill naked at about 10 PM at night. it always takes place on the last day of classes before reading period begins. yes, most people run drunk, but it is obviously not a requirement. people party anywhere from three to one night a week on average. going out thursday, friday, saturday is pretty common, but depending on work load, a lot of kids will take off a night or so to get some extra sleep or get some work done. upperclassmen go to bars on tuesday nights. sororities are not important. they have almost no presense, i couldn't name all three that exist and they are not allowed to have parties. fraternities are the opposite, but the parties are hot, dirty and tend to get monotonous after 3 a week every week. but if you like to dance, they're great. last weekend i studied almost all weekend for the two tests and a paper i had due on monday. but that isn't typical. the weekend before i went skiing on saturday with a friend who goes to a school in boston. we went to gunstock in NH, it's about an hour and forty five minute drive. i went to Sharon, a town about 30 minutes outside of boston to have dinner with a friend from my summer camp. those were both on saturday. friday i went to a fraternity with my friends. thursday some friends came over to my dorm to play apples to apples (this could also be substituted for Kings) sunday is usually spent doing work.