Berkeley vs. Tufts. vs. Wellesley

Mastadon
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 03:06:45 +0000

All great schools, but Tufts sounds like the best fit. Did you visit Davis Square when you were there?

The Somerville Theatre is a favorite of film buffs - lots of film festivals and it even runs original silent movies with a live organist (just like the old days).

http://feitheatres.com/somerville-theatre/

By northeast standards, Tufts is more artsy than preppy - it has the highest concentration of arts majors among all the NESCAC and Ivy League schools - and a large music community with a new performance hall rated the best in New England.

Relative to Berkeley, it will have a higher arts concentration, but I’m guessing a higher prep concentration as well.

The “downhill” half of Tufts is located in Somerville which has the second highest density of young people and artists in the country. Cambridge (next to Somerville) has the third highest density of young people. Harvard and MIT are in Cambridge and Boston is across the river from Cambridge.

Wellesley College has a bus to Cambridge/MIT and Boston. The town of Wellesley is beautiful, but very wealthy (young people can’t afford it) and dry. Babson and Olin (top rated specialty schools) are about a mile and a half from Wellesley College (there is a shuttle bus), and there are on-campus parties there. The 4-mile corridor between Tufts and MIT is the “cool” place to hang out for Babson/Olin/ Wellesley as well as Brandeis. Boston provides lots of additional activities/entertainment as well. Boston College is in Newton (next to Wellesley). Newton is the wealthiest city in the country. There is stuff to do in Newton, but it is not really a “cool” place for young people to hang out.

In contrast, Somerville has been rated one of the top 5 hipster cities in the world and tops in the US.

http://www.metro.us/lifestyle/world-s-most-hipster-cities-top-5/tmWnio—b3NOQ6ONE4RPg/

https://carrierussellbooks.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/03/15/new-study-names-hippest-city-in-america/

Tufts also has a minor in Media Studies with film studies/film making tracks which might be of interest to you. It leverages some unusual classes from the Experimental College.