<p>There are a lot of ardent Tufts bashers on these boards - mostly people who have never been to the school and know little about it, save for that it is 4 miles away from MIT. The last part is what really hurts Tufts’ reputation… essentially being seen as inferiour to MIT (as is nearly every school in the country).</p>
<p>Anyway, as an engin. graduate, I stand firmly by my assertion that it’s a great school. Most “top” engin. programmes really stink because 1) you’re in classes with 100 other people, 2) those classes are taught by grad students, and 3) there’s little opportunity to do meaningful research. My chem-e classes were all about 25 people; we got to really know the professors; I NEVER had a grad student teach a course; and almost everyone did research with professors. </p>
<p>The majors are ABET-accredited, so you are taking essentially the same classes that you would at almost any engineering school. While there aren’t many electives, as Snuffles said, they are at least small (electives usually have about 10 students) and are always taught by professors.</p>
<p>Finally, there are only a handful of engineering schools in Ma: MIT, Tufts, BU, UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst, and WPI. Tufts is recognized as an excellent one of those - as such, graduates usually have no trouble becoming employed after graduation. My company is a mix of Tufts, MIT, and Lowell grads… with Tufts having a very healthy representation and a lot of respect as a great school. </p>
<p>Tufts has great placement for grad schools. If you do well there, you will certainly have your choice among the best of them.</p>
<p>I don’t know about mechanical engineering specifically.</p>