Ross BBA at UMich vs Tufts

College Search & Lists
1

I would like some opinions on Ross Business School at University of Michigan and Tufts.
I got admitted Preferred Admission into the Ross School of Business in November and recently found out that I got accepted into Tufts regular decision. I know they are both great schools with amazing academics but I wanted to get some opinions on which one has a better reputation overall?

Due to it being Ross (500 admits), I realize the class sizes at UMich will be closer to that at Tufts and the atmosphere would be less of a big-college feel. So that makes both universities very similar and hard to choose between.

In your opinion, where would you choose to go to? I’m really having a tough time deciding and opinions would be great!

2

Are you set on majoring in Business or not? If you are, Ross is a no-brainer. If you are not, the decision is a little harder.

“I know they are both great schools with amazing academics”

While both are great schools, I would not compare the academics at Tufts to the academics at Michigan. All of Michigan’s departments are ranking among the top 15 in the nation. With the exception of Fletcher, which is purely a graduate program, I cannot think of a single department at Tufts that is ranked among the top 20.

“I wanted to get some opinions on which one has a better reputation overall”

Reputation is influenced by location. Obviously, Tufts is going to have a stronger reputation than Michigan in New England while Michigan will have a stronger reputation in the Midwest. Thanks to its strong STEM programs, Michigan also has a stronger reputation in places like Silicon Valley. However, to most education people, Michigan and Tufts both have great reputations, so you have nothing to worry about.

“Due to it being Ross (500 admits), I realize the class sizes at UMich will be closer to that at Tufts and the atmosphere would be less of a big-college feel. So that makes both universities very similar and hard to choose between.”

Actually, even if you were just enrolling in LSA, outside of your freshmen classes which would undoubtably be larger, you are not going to see a difference between Michigan and Tufts. 60% of Michigan classes have fewer than 20 students, compared to 65% at Tufts. That is hardly noticeable. You need to remember that while Tufts is indeed much smaller than Michigan (9,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in departments that also enroll undergraduate students vs 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in departments that also enroll undergraduate students), so is its faculty (650 instructional faculty vs 2,750 instructional faculty). Also those students are scattered around far fewer departments than at Michigan. Do keep in mind that Michigan’s campus is far more spread out than Tufts’ campus (3,200 acres vs 150 acres). Michigan’s endowment is significantly larger ($11 billion or $250,000/student vs $1.7 billion or $150,000/per student), and that does not even factor in economies of scale and state funding.

Personally, I would prioritize the following:

  1. Do you wish to major in Business? If so, I would go with Michigan.
  2. Is cost a concern? Does one of those schools cost less to attend? If so, I would go for the cheaper option.
  3. If you don't mind majoring in something other than Business, and cost is not a concern, I would go for fit.
3

Ross at Michigan if you want to study business.

Tufts if you have a special program of study not available at Michigan.

4

I would think that even if you’re in a smaller program at Michigan it would still feel very different from Tufts in terms of campus size, campus life, etc.

To me the more relevant point is that you seem to be considering attending both an undergraduate business school and Tufts. Tufts doesn’t have any traditional business school programs (though there’s a growing entrepreneurship program), so I would think that the academics of an undergraduate business degree would be fairly different from anything you’d study at Tufts…

5

Although both rank similarly in the prestige department, I would argue that you will find, in general, more interesting and intelligent kids at Tufts. I have many friends at UMich, and they honestly just cannot compete creatively nor intellectually with the kids I’ve met here. Maybe a rash generalization, but it’s what I got.

6

Hey @18paradkarr

Ask away. Some classes are large but the one I usually teach in, a required sophomore class, has only 18 students per section. It’s a pretty lively group. I know nothing about Tufts but I am confident in the quality of education we offer here.

7

“Although both rank similarly in the prestige department, I would argue that you will find, in general, more interesting and intelligent kids at Tufts. I have many friends at UMich, and they honestly just cannot compete creatively nor intellectually with the kids I’ve met here. Maybe a rash generalization, but it’s what I got.”

Michigan has 29,000 undergraduate students. Even if you “have many friends” at Michigan, there is no way you can make such a sweeping generalization without sounding presumptuous and ill-informed. Without going too much into the details, looking at the number of graduates that win major awards (Fulbright, Marshall, Truman, Churchill, Rhodes etc…), or that are placed in top graduate programs, even when you adjust for their respective size, there is no evidence that the students at Michigan “cannot compete” with the students at Tufts intellectually.

8

I see the fallacy of graduate rankings of PhD programs implying that undergraduate education must be better. That is just not true. By that logic, Amherst, Swarthmore, Williams and Pomona must be garbage because they don’t have highly ranked PhD programs.

9

Wait who was ranking PhD programs on this thread? I do see Alexandre mentioning departmental rankings but this was not PhD programs per se (it’s not the same thing).

10

Thank you so much! This was extremely helpful and after reading this and all the other replies I definitely think I will be sticking to UMich.

11

Well, from what source did the rankings originate?

@18paradkarr: Michigan seems like a great choice for you!