Greg H.
Yelp
pros:
- small college feel with small classes and lack of bureaucracy. profs are accessible. lack of bureaucracy opens up windows of academic opportunities and flexibilities. eg, switching between liberal arts and engineering college is a cinch, if you ever change your mind. despite having small college atmosphere, tons of opportunities to seek out research and projects in many different fields.
- excellent engineering program and pre-med / pre-dental programs. international relations, english, biology - those are all popular majors that get good reviews from students.
- particularly great for pre-med (and maybe pre-dental, as well), since it is easier to get an interview with tufts medschool if you go to tufts as undergrad. the advising service for pre-med/dental is excellent.
- easy access to boston and harvard. just hop on the red line from davis square. harvard square, you can take the bus direct from the campus, or take red line, or better yet just run there.
- social life does not revolve around greek life and on-campus partying (although there are plenty of on-campus activities/parties if that's what you like). people tend to go hang out in boston on weekends, although some stay in and study.
- tufts' designated 'college town' is davis square, which is very cool with tons of restaurants, cafes and very cool vibe.
- diverse student body from all over the country, with significant international representation as well, who tend to be liberal-leaning and is generally hard-working and enlightened.
- awesome cafeteria food.
bad:
- very expensive.
- tufts' inferiority complex. it's often said that tufts is a place for ivy rejects. tufts students like to deny this vehemently, but how can they? i did not know a single jumbo (= a tufts student) who had been accepted to any ivy league school other than cornell and columbia. tufts administration likes to think that the school is on par with schools like dartmouth and brown... having lived on the west coast and worked in the industry, i can tell you that tufts is in no way regarded in the same class as those schools. not saying some people wouldn't choose tufts over those schools necessarily. just that tufts' nationwide reputation is not on par with those schools. i worked for a blue-chip silicon valley corporation and they made their recruiting rounds extensively in the northeast as well, but certainly not at tufts. another example of tufts' pathetic inferiority complex is that every once in a while, the tufts community rehashes this old myth about how tufts was invited to join the ivy (which is complete bs). reputation isn't all that important. it's about what you get out of your college experience; everyone i know from back in the days at tufts is very successful and earning tons.