Tufts University Art ?

Mastadon
Wed, 21 Sep 2016 15:10:22 +0000

@bluepig97ie-

First things first.

Post merger, the SMFA and Tufts become one, so there is no notion of being accepted into both, unless you are applying to the dual-degree program.

Pre merger, the overall Tufts acceptance rate and admissions statistics were the average of two separate pieces, one piece was the acceptance rate and statistics associated with the School of Engineering and the other piece was the acceptance rate and statistics of the School of Liberal Arts. These are two different sets of numbers.

Historically, the School of Liberal Arts has had a lower acceptance rate than the School of Engineering, but due to the recent surge in popularity of Engineering in general, the acceptance rate of the School of Engineering has been lower than the School of Liberal Arts for the last few years.

Due to the fact that the two schools have different admissions criteria, the admissions statistics for the two schools are also different. Math and Science standardized test scores and grades tend to be higher in the School of Engineering and non Math and Science standardized test scores and grades tend to be higher for the School of Liberal Arts.

Post merger, the overall Tufts acceptance rate and admissions statistics will be the average of three separate pieces.The new third piece, will belong to the SMFA.

I expect that the acceptance rate of SMFA piece will be lower than the acceptance rate of the SMFA before the merger, but significantly higher than the School of Engineering or the School of Liberal Arts. The reduction in acceptance rate would be a result of the SMFA becoming more popular as a result of the merger. The size of the reduction is very difficult to predict, but I would expect that the reduction would continue over time as the word gets out and more cross campus programs are developed.

Due to the fact that the admissions criteria for the SMFA are very different from either the School of Engineering or the School of Liberal Arts (i.e the quality of the portfolio is the dominant factor) the admissions statistics for the SMFA are also going to be very different. Standardized test scores (if they are even required) will be lower as will GPA’s.

As far as ease of admission goes, don’t sell yourself short. There are very few engineers or liberal arts students that were accepted to Tufts (other than the dual degree students) that would be capable of putting together a portfolio good enough to get them accepted to the SMFA. Standardized tests and GPA are not usually good indicators of artistic ability.

The admissions office said to feel free to call them to get advice on how to put together a portfolio that showcases your artistic talent. This is a lot of work if you have not started it already, so do not delay. Also, put a lot of thought/work into your essay(s).

I hope this helps and good luck!