Tufts University

Date: Nov 04 2006
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm a freshman almost done with my first semester here. While the facilities are amazing and every teacher is dedicated, I feel like I'm not as challenged as I expected I would be. Coming from a high school where doing nothing got me 100% on most tests, here I do have to study, but at the same time "cramming" which they say doesn't work has been getting me 90's on all my tests, in classes where many sophomores fail. I feel like a "baby ivy" shouldn't be this easy.

The dorming experience here is better than most other places. The rooms are big and the bathrooms are clean, though I've heard some of the all freshman dorms have trouble with bugs. The food is supposedly really good, but to be honest, having the same 5 "ethnic" dishes every 3 days is getting pretty old; Luckily there's a big salad bar, cereal, soup and cold cuts at every meal.

The extracurricular activites are extensive here, though I personally am disappointed with the dance program. There's basically any club or intermural sport you can think of including water polo and ultimate frisbee.

As for transportation, the school is walking distance from the subway, which takes you anywhere in boston, as well as to the airport or train/bus station where you can get home, or basically anywhere you want.

I personally have a problem with the defination of the "diversity" here. While there are many non-white students as well as internationals, I find that about 90% of the kids here, regardless of race, are die hard liberals with unrealistic idealism. And I'm a liberal, so imagine how you'd feel if you were conservative. Everyone wears the same ugg boots and northface jackets here, and yet, everyone is an "indiviual". People sometimes are surprised that I went to public school, because they didn't know "smart kids did that". While people are always friendly about letting you sit with them at meals and inviting you out, don't be surprised if they spend $100 in one night of mommy and daddy's money on weed without finching, or insist that everyone should do all they can for the "unfortunate" while they spend hundreds on new clothes. For a school that's "not snobby or stuck up," it is, its just hidden. But its a private school, so its bound to happen. As a kid from a middle/working class town on long island , I often feel like I'm the only stereotypical "poor college student" here. Plus, a lot of people are used to being the "smart ones" at their highschool, and as a result show off in class by spouting a bunch of information that isnt relevant, or tell you flat out that your opinion isn't valid, just because they can.

I, myself, am thinking of transferring, mostly because I'm far away from home, and because I can't bring myself to stay at a school charging $45,000 a year that I don't feel at home at. Tufts's really is a great school, I can't deny that, but I think I'll be much happier at a public school. Tufts has great programs for academics in pretty much all subjects, and the kids here are interested in their fields (among other things).

One word of advice, make sure you stay overnight at the schools you apply to. I didn't, and as a result didn't get a feel for the kinds of people who go here. While I've made some friends, I feel like the overall mentality of "we're the best" is really pronounced here, and I don't see how that can coexist with the "equally serve the world" mantra the school says it has. That's just my opinion though. Definately talk to students here before you choose to decide for yourself.