@Lindagaf I thought Faber’s grocery cart shuttle service was way ahead of it’s time. Low emission, student run. A real plus for me.
My family still refers to Hamilton as the college Nathaniel Hawthorne built. Went there in August and my girls wouldn’t get out of the car - dreary. It may have gotten better since the musical came out.
Oberlin was the absolute worst. The tour guide mocked the high school kids on our tour because they couldn’t come up with causes they support. One young lady said she wants to work for animal rights. The tour guide told her that was unoriginal. Then she laid into the rest of the group since they weren’t offering up their social justice causes. She told them they’d better learn to speak up and they wouldn’t fit at Oberlin. I desperately wanted to ask her what her social justice cause was but I was kind of afraid of her.
Well, I was a big fan of Faber’s environmental policies too, until I saw the use of a gas powered chainsaw and the food waste created by the students in the cafeteria.
Tufts looked so good on paper and seemed like it could be a good fit for DD. But then we visited. There was a lot of construction happening, so we couldn’t find the entrance to the parking garage at first. Lots of driving around with Waze being particularly judgmental and condescending. Then, once in the parking garage and parked, we couldn’t find our way out. Stairs led to nowhere, elevator not working, no other people around, sweaty-hot. Finally made it upstairs to the info session which was SO boring in comparison to the previous 30 minutes. DD nodded off and I didn’t care. The tour told us nothing of substance about the school, other than lots of stories about Dumbo and the painted rock (not original). When we got to a vantage point where the tour guide pointed out Boston shimmering in the distance, DD had that “aha” moment of realizing that Tufts wasn’t actually IN Boston, despite the traffic & construction. In fact, it looked very far away. Being from Boston myself I knew this, and had my own dark feelings about Medford, but I was prepared to let those slide for the sake of my daughter’s happiness. DD was happy to leave and led us back down to the parking garage, into our car, and out of Medford in about 4 minutes flat.
Dumbo? I didn’t know that Walt Disney was Tufts’ benefactor.
To be honest, the school does do the overkill with Jumbo and P. T. Barnum. Although my son decided to apply for those reasons plus the chance to vandalize the cannon. And he would have went if he was accepted and his ED choice rejected him.
@Hamurtle LOL! Honestly I think I had heatstroke on that tour - and was it a cannon (not a rock) that was painted?!
Seriously, It would have been the perfect place for my daughter, but she couldn’t get over that first impression. She saw many other schools & we had some good experiences and some bad ones, but was able to overlook the negatives in favor of fit. Not at Tufts though. Which is OK because she liked so many others, including ones where we had less-than-perfect visits.
Congratulations to your son on being accepted ED!
Regarding Tufts, I once visited the campus one summer to play racquetball in their indoor courts with no airconditioning. I nearly died that day. But that was in early 90’s. Hope they have upgraded all of their recreation and sports facilities since then. Things back then looked rather dilapidated and certainly didn’t leave a good impression.
Seems like Tufts is a love it or hate it type of place.
My funny story about Tufts (my med school alma mater) was when my student went to the info session for undergrad. The staff said they would give a sweat shirt to anyone who could name the school’s mascot. My daughter proudly spoke up and shouted “Shrimp.” The staff looked perplexed because our student was so sure of herself.
I guess when I told her about “Jumbo” when she was in elementary school, in her mind, she immediately equilibrated it to the only thing she knew, Jumbo Shrimp, and it stuck. She swears I never told her it was an elephant, which I know I did many times over.
@GMC2918 there might have been a painted rock, but the tradition is to vandalize the cannon. The lawn on the roof of one of the buildings was a bit disconcerting though.
I think my kid will consider Tufts for grad or medical school. He has the personality that nothing will faze home and will be fine with any school as long as it’s completely decrepit.
Tufts Med School was a great experience. At first you think, Washington Street, red light district, dirty and smelly Kneeland St and Harrison Ave. But, it has cleaned up nicely in the last few years, and an urban hospital right in the heart of Boston led to great opportunities. All in all, Boston was a fun place to be. We used to go skating in the winter during lunchtime at the Boston Common our first year. Great overall experience! Definitely tell your son to put it on his list.
@GMC2918 - my favorite college info session/tour to bash - our experience was very similar to yours!
My Tufts story Wasn’t feeling it on the tour at all. Last stop was the piece de resistance, where they stop at the spot on the hill with the impressive view of Boston. And the thought that crossed my mind, was of Tufts students standing there, gazing longingly at the view, lamenting that if they had just taken one more AP in high school, they could have been at that school down there (Harvard, MIT)!
Definitely sounds like Tufts is a love it or hate it place. Odd since they have a good academic reputation. The Fletcher School is one of the best in its field and PoliSci and History have good reputations as well.
Given that my kid has really odd tastes, he was also considering Brandeis. Visited the campus and took the tour. Mom was not too enamored of the overall look and architecture, but son didn’t mind and interviewed/submitted his application. I think he likes the Boston area and would go there for grad or medical school. He even liked BU despite the stories about some not so great dorms. For some reason Northeastern wasn’t on his list though.
Berkeley was the school he really didn’t like. It never clicked with him. And that was a disappointment to Asian Mom. It wasn’t his dream school and the feel of the campus didn’t resonate with him.
One of his classmates actually turned down a full ride to Yale for Berkeley Regents last year and kids at school were wondering why.
Brother visited Tufts - felt unwelcome said the place had a “bad air” about it. Only school of the dozen he visited that he did not like.
Couple more from our trip to CA:
Son didn’t like Berkeley. We visited the math department (he’s a potential math major) and the building was really ugly and in a sad condition. I told him he won’t have to look at this building if he’s inside. The other ugliest building on campus? Department of architecture.
I thought UCLA campus was really nice, but after my husband visited a restroom he told me to cross it off the list (tongue-in-cheek, I admit). He refused to tell me the details and I’m still wondering what was so gross there. Women’s restroom was perfectly fine.
Tufts. D14 wouldn’t stay for the info session or tour.
@wisteria100 I had a different thought at that spot overlooking Boston. I thought the kids might think, hey if I can get in here I might as well apply to BU and Northeastern and actually live downtown, ha.
I liked Tufts, I thought it was better than I thought it was going to be. Nice campus and facilities. Lots of smart kids with different backgrounds and ideas.
Things I didn’t like… not that much stuff right off campus, takes too long to get into Boston and you need to walk 15 minutes to get to the T, and the in your face " we’re really different here" vibe from the kids giving the tours and working the reception desk.
While we’re dissing Tufts…my daughter was turned off by the size of the tour and the lackluster info session. I also thought the view of downtown Boston made it look so far away. The final thumbs down - the school colors - brown and blue- just yuck.