Tufts vs. Northwestern pre-med?

buzzers
Mon, 02 Apr 2012 02:56:22 +0000

Both are great places. Northwestern does have the quarter system, which for me, was the biggest drawback. That being said, here are the things about Tufts:

Tufts is DIII, definitely not DI, but students have enormous school spirit, especially for the mascot, Jumbo the elephant. Additionally, despite not having sports compared to DI, it’s Boston: The Celtics, the Red Socks, The Bruins, the Patriots–where collegiate sports aren’t that great (maybe, BC, maybe), professional sports makes that up.

Tufts is known to have happy and friendly students. Although I would take rankings with a grain of salt, the Princeton Review has consistently had Tufts as one of the top happiest schools in the country. There is also a common theme where people aren’t competitive “with each other, but with themselves.”

The Princeton Review also states (again, grain of salt) that Tufts has one of the top study abroad programs. This makes intuitive sense as Tufts is really big on internationalism given its superb IR program (meaning the language, culture, IR stuff is good…thank the Fletcher school for that).

Tufts is actually closer to Boston than Northwestern is to Chicago (you still get the campus, but you can see the Boston skyline from the library rooftop). Chicago is bigger, but Boston is a college town with a lot of young people (since there are so many colleges and universities). You can also more easily access the city (subways, and Tufts has a shuttle to the subway system if you don’t want to walk). There are also taxi’s and busses. I am sure something similar exists for Northwestern.

As for libraries, Tufts has two on campus–the Tisch library and the Fletcher library. The Fletcher library (Ginn) is a kept secret which is extremely gorgeous and quiet as well.

Internship opportunities will be great in both places. A lot of students do research over the summer or work with professors. At Tufts, professors are very open and welcoming–and interactions and collaboration is highly encouraged.

And both places will be hard–Tufts doesn’t take Harvard’s orgo for transfer credit either (it isn’t “Tough enough”). Indeed, they don’t accept any transfer. Classes are going to be tough, but you will do really well. Students definitely place into great medical schools and some obviously do the track to Tufts medical school. A lot also drop out of being pre-med (like any school).

Tufts newest President is also an MD/PHD who discovered the gene for language–so there definitely is going to be a more science focus (probably) in the years ahead.

Lastly, check out Tufts cognitive brain science program.