Tufts is certainly a place that fosters discussion. Though it's about as homogeneous as you'd expect a small, northeastern american university to be, its minority groups and their opinions are well-respected and represented, and Tufts students are, almost to a one, very accepting. Academics-wise, class size has been my favourite aspect of the Tufts education: in the first semester of my freshman year, three of my four courses had twenty students or fewer.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
Come to Tufts open minded and willing to discuss, defend, and adjust your opinions. Social justice and change are massively prevalent subjects on campus, and it's difficult to get away from them. In-depth discussions outside of class time have been frequent in my experience.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
Again, the class sizes at Tufts are certainly a plus. The very largest lecture classes go no larger than 300 students (intro to psych/econ, etc.). Because classes are so small, professors are actually able and available to give students a lot more one-on-one help, and taking advantage of this can be key to success. The classes at Tufts will challenge you, and in my very brief experience as a humanities student, I've found that each of my classes have emphasized discussion and student contribution. This appears to be the case in my friends' courses as well, though the extent to which a class is lecture or discussion-based depends on the professor.
Work is frequent and rigorous, but anyone who cultivates good time-management skills will likely be just fine.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
Some Tufts dorms have been recently renovated; some, like mine, haven't. Recently refurbished halls like Haskell and South are gorgeous, while halls like Bush are beginning to show their age. It's the people, though, that make the dorm, and a student living in a soviet apartment block with a fun group of kids will always have a better experience than a student in a palace with standoffish people. Thankfully, the former situation- not the soviet apartment part, the fun group part- is much more probable here, and there really isn't anything about even the worst dorms that I think warrants complaining.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
Absolutely superb, considering the traffic that goes through the halls each day. Dewick and Carmichael both serve an amazing variety of food, including options for vegetarians and those that suffer from allergies. Considering the fact that we're talking college cafeteria food, the cooks and staff do an excellent job, and I actually look forward to every meal.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
There's always something going on on-campus- if you're part of a few clubs, you probably have something going on any given night- but if you want to get away from Tufts for a while, Davis square, a fifteen minute walk away, is where you'll find most of the students' favourite restaurants and small shops. Don't forget that Boston and Cambridge are both right there, in and around which are a number of other college campuses. Boston is, understandably, a huge destination for bands and artists of all varieties. Big acts often come through town, though you can find a plethora of great musicians playing smaller venues all over the city. Make sure to get downtown at least once or twice a month: a common regret among upperclassmen seems to be that they haven't yet gotten off campus on the weekends frequently enough.
Tufts is certainly a place that fosters discussion. Though it's about as homogeneous as you'd expect a small, northeastern american university to be, its minority groups and their opinions are well-respected and represented, and Tufts students are, almost to a one, very accepting. Academics-wise, class size has been my favourite aspect of the Tufts education: in the first semester of my freshman year, three of my four courses had twenty students or fewer.
Come to Tufts open minded and willing to discuss, defend, and adjust your opinions. Social justice and change are massively prevalent subjects on campus, and it's difficult to get away from them. In-depth discussions outside of class time have been frequent in my experience.
Again, the class sizes at Tufts are certainly a plus. The very largest lecture classes go no larger than 300 students (intro to psych/econ, etc.). Because classes are so small, professors are actually able and available to give students a lot more one-on-one help, and taking advantage of this can be key to success. The classes at Tufts will challenge you, and in my very brief experience as a humanities student, I've found that each of my classes have emphasized discussion and student contribution. This appears to be the case in my friends' courses as well, though the extent to which a class is lecture or discussion-based depends on the professor. Work is frequent and rigorous, but anyone who cultivates good time-management skills will likely be just fine.
Some Tufts dorms have been recently renovated; some, like mine, haven't. Recently refurbished halls like Haskell and South are gorgeous, while halls like Bush are beginning to show their age. It's the people, though, that make the dorm, and a student living in a soviet apartment block with a fun group of kids will always have a better experience than a student in a palace with standoffish people. Thankfully, the former situation- not the soviet apartment part, the fun group part- is much more probable here, and there really isn't anything about even the worst dorms that I think warrants complaining.
Absolutely superb, considering the traffic that goes through the halls each day. Dewick and Carmichael both serve an amazing variety of food, including options for vegetarians and those that suffer from allergies. Considering the fact that we're talking college cafeteria food, the cooks and staff do an excellent job, and I actually look forward to every meal.
There's always something going on on-campus- if you're part of a few clubs, you probably have something going on any given night- but if you want to get away from Tufts for a while, Davis square, a fifteen minute walk away, is where you'll find most of the students' favourite restaurants and small shops. Don't forget that Boston and Cambridge are both right there, in and around which are a number of other college campuses. Boston is, understandably, a huge destination for bands and artists of all varieties. Big acts often come through town, though you can find a plethora of great musicians playing smaller venues all over the city. Make sure to get downtown at least once or twice a month: a common regret among upperclassmen seems to be that they haven't yet gotten off campus on the weekends frequently enough.