i’m applying for economics to college and im stuck between tufts and boston college for my ED2 decision. I have a 3.75 UW, 34 ACT and pretty strong ECs that include a lot of club leadership, TAing AP Econ and internships at school among other stuff idk how relevant that is. I did recently get rejected from my ED1 (Barnard), and now im just kinda worried about how college is going.
I originally settled for Tufts as my ED2, but its p competitive from our school and idk if ill get in, but compared to that BC although still reach af is less competitive cause ppl from our school just don’t apply. Which one would be the better choice to go with?
money isn’t an issue since my parents can cover both schools
One of my kids graduated from Tufts a couple of years ago and another one is currently a senior at BC. These are two very different schools. I have to think that one of them would be a better fit for you than the other. Forget about admission rates and apply to the one that is the better fit.
im near-certain that if i dont ED2, I’m not gonna get into either. I do want to make an ED2 and have a decision + the deadline for ED2 and RD is the same for both schools so either way I can make a decision
education wise they both seemed p similar w their liberal arts-ish education in the undergrad, but also having masters programs, theyre both near boston so ig the differences are more social ( i could be wrong though). ik bc is jesuit but that doesn’t rlly matter to me. apart from that how do the two schools differ?
But getting into a school that doesn’t fit- even if you hear early- what does that get you?
The environments at these schools are reasonably different. So which one fits you better? Apply to that one. And then make sure you do a bang up job on your RD applications…
BC has much more of a type A, competitive, career focused vibe while Tufts is more laid back, artsy, and quirky. Sports are also a much bigger thing at BC. I’m not sure how my BC kid would have done at Tufts, but I can say with certainty that my Tufts kid would not have been happy at BC.
100%. Consider this: when we toured Tufts, the big event everyone kept referencing was the annual silly dancing contest. By contrast, BC game days and tailgates are a HUGE deal. Kids at Tufts do not go to games.
I would suggest the @jellyfishchef77 that they may not be ready to make an ED commitment to either of these schools if they don’t perceive the cultural differences between them.
BC is much more pre-professional and the students tend to be sportier. The top cross-applicant schools include Duke, Georgetown and Villanova. Tufts is often a back up to Brown or has cross applicants to Wesleyan. I hate to generalize down to nerds v. jocks, but’s really not that far off, though there are pockets of all types at both places.
There are definitely pockets of both at both places.
But the overall “feel” of Tufts leans more community engagement, artsy, and the “feel” of BC leans more sporty and traditional campus life. A little ironic- because BC was a hotbed of activism (student, faculty and administration) during the Viet Nam war… and Tufts was less so (Fletcher school tended to produce more establishment types, and it spilled over). Plus Tufts was MUCH more pre-professional at the time with the med school, dental school, etc. But that was a lifetime ago!
Yes, Jesuit anti-war activism was a real phenomenon in the 60s and 70s. Father Robert Drinan was dean of BC Law when he won election to Congress on an anti-war platform.
Well, we’re getting off topic, but John Paul II put an end to Drinan’s political career and also tamped down on liberation theology around the globe. BC also tangled with John Paul II’s handpicked Archbishop (and later Cardinal) for Boston.
Another thing to do to help you with this decision - look at the major and GE/core requirements for an Economics degree at both schools. Tufts, for example, has a language requirement (at least for students in the School of Arts & Sciences). That might be a positive - or a negative - for you.
Edited to add: I agree with other posters on this thread that Tufts and BC are very different schools in terms of vibe. Best to visit - if you can - before ED’ing to one or the other.
I concur that these are 2 very different schools in terms of environment and that you’d be well-served by a visit to both before applied ED. With that said, if Barnard was your first choice, I suspect you would like Tufts better than BC.
You should definitely look through your planned course of study and see what is expected at each school in terms of general and major-specific requirements and the ease with which you can take classes outside that that interest you. (Anything from FL to music…) These can make for a very different experience - and potentially different post-grad job opportunities–even with the same major.
The acceptance rate at both of these schools is ridiculously low, which means that factors come into play in the decision making process that we’re not even aware of. There really is no way to predict which one gives you a better chance. Keep in mind that this year is the largest number of high school graduates in history and therefore the highest number of college applicants. As a result there will continue to be surprises from one year to the next and you just can’t predict based on last year’s numbers.
Hard to know what to make of that, eh? Is it a one off? Are kids taking gap years to earn money and enrollment will be even higher next year? Forecasts for next year are still up, so we’ll have to see.
My point is that in a world where we just saw the acceptance rate at Holy Cross cut in half from 36% to 18% in two cycles, we could see the same at BC, a similar kind of school. At a 14+% acceptance rate, which is tough enough, there is no predicting where BC will be this year.
If you would like a source for comparing these schools by difficulty of admission, this site places Tufts 28th and BC 37th by “selectivity rank” when considered nationally: