which is better - emory or tufts

Cami215
Wed, 19 Apr 2006 05:12:13 +0000

You can not judge a school by numbers in a magazine. The difference between # 20 and #27 is utterly meaningless. You need to know something about these schools, and hopefully visit in order to choose.

I am an Emory alum. My son has been accepted to both Emory and Tufts as well as another school that is “higher” in the ratings. What’s important is that you find out which school is a match. I wouldn’t be shocked if our son ends up at Tufts.

Interestingly, it’s actually harder to get into Tufts than Emory: a 26% acceptance rate for Tufts, about 38% for Emory. The SAT scores are comparable. Tufts is ranked lower because it has a much smaller endowment and a lower peer ranking (what the uni presidents do). Uni presidents tend to think of the school as a whole, including the grad programs, when they do the US News ranking. Overall, Emory has better and larger grad programs; Tufts is more undergrad centered (more like a LAC as someone said), especially since a number of the grad schools are on separate campuses.

Both Emory and Tufts are on the outskirts of large cities, but, unless you have a car, it isn’t easy to get around in Atlanta. Public transportation is much better in Boston. At Emory, the kids tend to dress up a bit more than Tufts, and the school is more frat oriented. Tufts places a lot of emphasis on global citizenship, and has the best study abroad programs in the country.

Do you know what you are interested in studying? Tufts excels in IR, has strong programs in the social sciences and classics/archaeology. Emory is strong in the sciences. There are so many labs and science associatons on the Emory campus where you can do internships. Tufts does have one great option for med school – apply at the end of your sophomore year and be guaranteed a place that you can accept or reject when you graduate. Food is better at Tufts, dorms more liveable at Emory.

You are the only one who knows what you want. Relying on figures in a magazine is a bad idea, especially when the rankings are so close. Try to figure out what you want and which school comes closest to meeting your needs.