Tufts University

Date: Dec 08 2007
Major: Language - French/Spanish/etc. (This Major's Salary over time)
What I love most about Tufts is that the students here are quite smart, but in a very casual way. (Except for a few arrogant exceptions) Tufts students don't shove their intelligence in your face, and I haven't seen any flagrant competitiveness in my classes either. People tend to be collaborative rather than competitive without diminishing the quality of the education. I think someone said Tufts students are more competitive with themselves instead of others when it comes to academics, and I think that's a pretty accurate assessment of the academic climate.

While I agree with many of the comments that say the Tufts population is predominantly upper-class white northeasterners, there are diverse kinds of people on campus if you look hard enough. I have found plenty of other people to commiserate with over the high price of a Tufts education (which is admittedly very high). People are also very diverse in their interests at Tufts, which can be pretty refreshing.

Every single class I've taken (and all that I know of) has been taught by a professor instead of a TA (though recitations tend to be led by one). The classes are challenging enough for my tastes.

There are also many opportunities for extra-curriculars (so much that I don't have time for all of the ones I've been interested in), and the social life is just fine.

My main complaint is the somewhat unresponsiveness of residential life and residential facilities. My roommate and I noticed that our blinds didn't work in our room last year by the first week of school, and we were caught off guard when someone came to fix it…at the beginning of the second semester.