@Homerdog Tufts has been on our radar due to their Medical School assurance program and we took D there for a visit over the summer. There are 2 other schools she’s looked at that offer similar assurance programs that she liked (Georgetown and Dartmouth), which are great as it affords her the luxury of focusing on her research during undergrad without having to stress terribly about the MCAT and grades.
So many great options, choices and programs. Just need to find the right mix of reaches, matches and safeties. Her grades this year may help outline her list. So far she has a 4.0 UW (not sure what her weighted is), but her APUSH class sure is challenging her this year.
@homerdog I have two good friends with daughters at Tufts right now. Both are sophomores. Very bright, driven girls who thrive on being busy. They both seem to like Tufts for its intellectually curious and open, accepting student body. I’d be happy to ask any specific questions that you may have–just let me know.
@ThinkOn does a Medical School assurance program mean the student is guaranteed a spot in Tufts’ medical school? I’ve never heard of that. Pretty cool!
Tufts had the most diverse group of visitors when we visited this summer. Our tour guide was a young lady wearing cargo shorts with boots and a flannel shirt on a 90 degree day, and the young men that checked us in had blue nail polish and pink hair streaks. There may have been some anti-trump jokes made when we walked by the elephant statue.
This didn’t bother my son who doesn’t really mind that atmosphere. I was like whatever. But the school really went out of it’s way to show you how diverse and “edgy” they are. It’s a nice place, and I think it would be a great fit for certain people, while others might like another type of atmosphere. My older son who is going to Northeastern said he would rather much be at Northeastern than Tufts, different vibe and much easier access to Boston. Tufts is really like a 15 minute walk to the T and another 15 minute train ride into town.
@RightCoaster@mom2twogirls My friend said exactly the same thing. If she could go back to school, she would go right to Tufts. She thought every student they met was interesting and bright, had a good sense of humor, and was super welcoming to her daughter. She thought the kids were all edgy in their own way and very sure of themselves without being cocky. They visited twice and spent quite a bit of time there the second time. Found professors stopping students to say hello and one professor even stopped them and told them why Tufts is the place to be. Everyone seemed happy. We get the impression that they look for a very specific type of student. We’d probably have to visit ourselves to see if S19 felt at home there, but it seems like the best of both worlds - liberal arts philosophy within a university with only about 5000 undergrads. Maybe a little like Brown?
Starting to feel like the schools that might be the very best fit are always the ones with no merit opportunities. Makes sense but that’s a bummer!
@homerdog Unlike BS/MD programs where you apply for both a seat in the freshman class and the medical school at the same time based on your high school stats, assurance programs afford a little more flexibility for students as it allows students to apply to the medical school during their sophomore year. If accepted, the student has a guaranteed seat at the medical school sans MCAT, thereby affording the student much peace of mind and time to focus on other things during their undergrad years.
Based on my primitive research, it appears that acceptance into these assurance programs is rather competitive as are the BS/MD programs, but provides the student the benefit of a year of college under their belt before determining whether medical school is the path that is worth pursuing.
Tufts is sort of like Brown, but I personally like Brown better. I think living in the city of Providence is better than living in Somerville/Medford. I personally think Tufts is trying a bit too hard to show how diverse, welcoming, edgy, etc it is.
I think it’s a nice place, the campus was decent, and the kids are all obvious smart and studious. I wouldn’t want to go there, it’s just not my scene. I know several kids there and have several friends that have attended and they are all nice smart people.
I can’t pinpoint why exactly I would not want to go there other than I generally don’t like to be around people who go out of their way to " take a stand", or people who to have flaunt their beliefs and ideology at you 24/7. I’m just more of a person who lives and let lives, just stay out of my way please.
If you have a student who is politically motivated, loves social justice, or other world related issues and wants to talk about them and pursue them, then Tufts might be the right place. You also have to have a kid that is able to deal with “all types” of people from all walks of life, and can get along with them. Like I said, my older son just didn’t care about any of that stuff and so he would be a terrible fit for that school. My younger son gets along with mostly everybody, but he isn’t into politics, social justice, gay rights, BLM movement, humanitarian efforts etc., he just likes studying, robotics, playing sports, video games, chilling. He might not be a good fit either, but he did like it there. He appreciated the kids and their academic efforts.
@RightCoaster Hm. Ok. That’s food for thought. S19 hated Oberlin. Way too social-justicy. Kids trying way too hard to be different. Tufts is a reach for anyone and I don’t know if it will ultimately be on our list but that’s an interesting take for sure. Thanks for your opinion!
Stop! You are making me even more envious that it’s not my time! Lol
It’s probably not quite my d19’s place. But maybe it’s just that she gets tired of my social justice rants and wouldn’t mind it so much at a college. Or maybe they would make her feel at home, lol.
We wouldn’t get the financial aid package we would want there, so it’s not really on our radar.
Gosh, we loved Brown as well. Very laid back vibe with a beautiful campus. I’m thinking their grading policy would benefit students like my D who want to dabble in areas that they are not necessarily proficient in, but are so interested in (philosophy, theology, etc).
S is interested is in Computer Science and Computer Engineering. Does anyone know of any summer programs/camps where he could learn more about the two disciplines?
Thanks @mommdc
Her plan was costing her $13 a month (with a new phone through her current provider though, it would be $19 a month). I am on Verizon and they’ve lowered their costs enough that it wouldn’t be much more for her to switch over to Verizon on a shared plan because we actually use very little data, mostly just texting since the WiFi at home works well. She just needs the time to get to the store to get a new phone. She wants to double check in person to decide which phone she will get.
I kind of regret not looking into more summer programs for my kids. Not for college admission purposes but to help them discover or foster interests.
I thought they were expensive or only knew about a few, our HS always had some advertised for health care majors or business majors but I did not know about summer music or acting camps in our state, for example.
I don’t think it’s too late @mommdc. I have a few in mind for S19 for next summer (although it looks like they might actually be held the same week). But yeah, they can be really expensive. I didn’t do them in the past because S19 liked his expensive traditional summer camp so much. I definitely dropped the ball last summer, though.
I’m looking into an architecture and design program at VA Tech, an engineering exploration program at NC State and orchestra programs at VCU and UMD. I suspect he’ll still be trying to decide what his interests are 5 minutes before he hits submit on his first college applications next fall.
@eh1234, yes I agree, it’s not too late for your kids, and my youngest. I am a lurker and occasional delurker here, when I think I have something helpful to share, I have a D15 and an S18, and a D23.
And they are fine, and they did get to do some meaningful summer things they enjoyed.
It just surprised me, now that I am researching schools for my S18 with his music interest, to see some of the great programs some of these schools offer for high school kids.
