Tufts University Top Questions

Tufts is a pretty great school. You know it's a great school because all of the students who go here are awesome and they all love it. Actually, most everyone who goes to college loves where they go. If you didn't, then you're either REALLy in the wrong place or there's something really wrong with you. Tufts has tons of cool students (but sometimes you have to find them). Very liberal campus, but that's the way it is. There's lots of rich selfish kids that go here, but you get used to that. I was at first dissapointed with the students here, noticing WAY too many popped collars. But I soon realized that the rich-preppy-white-kid presence was only one part of the people here... you have to find your niche. Supposedly the faculty here are outstanding, but how would I know that? I've never been to any other schools. I'm an engineer, so my education isn't "global" despite anything the tour guides tell you. But I can tell you that you're going to get a great engineering education, and you can take great classes at a wonderful liberal arts school. Perfect for technical people who can be nerdy, but just not all the time.

the best thing about tufts is the diverse student body.

The size is great. Getting involved in extracurriculars is easy, and since it's a sizable university there are a lot of them. That said, playing a leadership role in those extracurriculars is fairly easy because the student body isn't as big as those of most universities with as many extracurricular programs as Tufts has.

Tufts is perfect in a lot of ways...it's a gorgeous enclosed campus, but it's right by Davis Square, which has a lot of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. Boston is really accessible by T or bus (20ish minutes), and Cambridge has countless fun little neighborhoods to explore. The school is a great size because I always recognize people at events and run into people I know on my way to class, but there are always people I haven't met yet. After four years at Tufts, I never felt claustrophobic--it's big enough that everyone can keep their own business private. The president of the university (Larry Bacow) and his wife (Adele) are SO adored by the student body. They are incredibly accessible and make an effort to be involved in all activities on campus. We can tell that they care so much about this school and its students, and that's clear in the fanclubs the Bacows have amassed over the years. Tufts is fairly old, so we do have some pretty stellar traditions (the Naked Quad Run is famous and it's my personal favorite). Although our athletics aren't well known, they have had a great run in the last 4 years. In general, the student body is friendly, smart, and really fun. Kids care about learning, but they're also here to have a good time. Tufts has a good balance of working really hard, but also knowing how to loosen up sometimes. There are a lot of kids here who may come across as ditzes or slackers, but then you have a class with them or read their papers and you realize they're actually closet geniuses.

The best thing about Tufts is the focus on Undergraduate education, and the strong possibility of receiving funding for any personal projects a student may desire to take on. This students to develop an independent study for credit or not for credit in order to further his or her own interests. The student body size is just right: you can feel like you know a lot of people, but there are still always new ones to meet. When I tell people I go to Tufts people either a) have never heard of the school or b) are pretty impressed. I spend most of my time on campus either with my housemates or in the library. Tufts has a pretty great location for a college. It is just outside Boston, and is complete with its own town square in the town of Somerville. The downside to being just outside of Boston is that transportation late at night, after the T stops running is unavailable. This means if you want to go partying in Boston you need to either have a designated driver or take a cab back (which is not too terrible). I have mixed feelings about Tufts administration. The university is open to student input, but at the same time the window for compromising on certain big issues can be narrow. For instance, the university is currently moving in the direction of being a research oriented institution, meaning that all faculty are basically required to pursue some research and the students are also encouraged to do so. This means that if there is a great professor who is not conducting research, he or she can be removed from their position by the university. I have run into a difficulty with this, as one of my two favorite professors was recently required to leave Tufts due to lack of research. He was voted "Professor of the Year in 2006" by students. I think that Tufts may be forgetting too much about their pride in undergraduate education through its quest for top- level research. I would also say that this is one of the main controversies here at Tufts. There is TONS of school pride. Once you step on campus, you will never stop hearing the three words: brown, blue, and jumbos!

Tufts is a rising liberal arts college that has a strong international focus. It is probably the right school to choose if you are interested in going abroad for part or all of your junior year. It has one of the strongest undergraduate IR programs in the country and a large part of the student body is made up of students from outside the US. It is very campus based. Although students enjoy sports, the athletic program is pretty weak. This is not a the right fit if you are looking to spend a lot of time at football or basketball games, since Tufts is a third division school and the games aren't very well attended and a lot less glamorous than a D-1 school.

Tufts is a school of 5000 undergrads. It has good food, okay dorms, very nice people, a variety of things to do, it's near boston (quick train ride), it has it's own police force (weird? yes), a variety of academic situations (Some more structured, some big lectures, some small seminars)...it's an overall good place.

I think Tufts is a good size for a University. At around 5,000 students, it's neither too big nor too small. Medford isn't the best area, but it's a great option for students who want the convenience and opportunities a city like Boston offers, but prefer not to be in an urban environment. Boston is a great city for college students, and it's easily accessible from Tufts. We're trying to increase Tufts' name recognition. When you tell someone back home that you go to Tufts, they're impressed if they've heard of it, but there's a decent chance that you'll just get a blank stare.

Tufts rests right near Davis Square in Somerville - one of the most up and coming areas of Boston. The area around Tufts was once considered a slum and now its nearby Davis Square is getting trendier and more fun by the minute. Everyone who lives in Davis is cute, does yoga, and has tattoos.

The people I've met and the friends I've made are incredible; so intelligent, interesting, funky, hysterical. They really care about the bigger picture, what's outside the university bubble that so few see beyond. also, Tufts has given me opportunities related to my major--international relations--that I never would have had, had I not attended tufts. Right now, for example, I'm taking a semester off and interning at the UNHCR. It's interesting because in the humanitarian field, when I tell people that I go to tufts, they react as people do domestically when someone says that he/she attends harvard; it has an incredible reputation abroad, especially concerning international humanitarian law, human rights, refugee/migration issues, etc. Obviously there are problems. I worked on a divestment campaign with the administration, encouraging it to divest funds from companies that indirectly do business with sudan (weapons cos, oil cos, etc). representatives just kept dishing out the same, transparent excuses, and a fletcher student interested in the movement said that the admin pays attention just long enough to make students feel as htough they've accomplished something, made some headway; then the students graduate, there is no more pressure for the admin to do anything, and the issue dies down. tufts is a business, in it to make money, but this certainly isn't unique to tufts.