A Jumbo Life

Introduction
Tufts is a high-demand academic school. If you're interested in going, be prepared to make a committment to your classes; there aren't too many "easy A" classes. In fact, I don't know anyone who's found one. But it's worth it - Tufts is gaining increasing respect from people and businesses around the world. Students looking to get by easily or hoping for lots of grade inflation, or hoping to spend their entire college career partying should steer clear. We party hard, but we work hard, first.

Campus Life and Social Life
Freshman usually find their social life at the frats, which aren't usually anything special. There are always things going on during the weekends, and Boston is close by, convenient, and full of college students from the area. However, Tufts is far from a party school. Most of the really fun parties I've found are on a relatively small scale, and usually hosted by close friends, rather than fraternities or random off-campus parties. Advertisement
Academics
Academics are a huge priority for most students at Tufts. Most professors I've encountered have been great - they're genuinely interested in helping their students learn, and are often available outside of the classroom. There are no classes TAUGHT by TAs, although TAs head recitations and often have office hours to provide additional help. In the engineering department, seeing professors and TAs in office hours is often beneficial to your progress and learning in a given course.

Student Body
There's no "typical" student at Tufts. It's a diverse school with students from all over the country and the world. Although I've read the "TV dinner" theory (where there's diversity but everyone sticks with their own "kind"), I haven't found this to be the case. I found students very friendly and extremely involved - most students are active members on campus, whether they're in the Tufts Mountain Club and enjoy going to The Lodge for weekends of outdoor activities (hiking, skiing, etc.) or in VOX (a woman's voices for choice group) or on sports' teams or in any other of the MANY clubs and groups on campus.

One other common conception of Tufts is that it's filled with upper-middle-class, Jewish kids from Long Island. OK, Tufts has a lot of upper-middle-class kids. Tufts also has a lot of Jewish kids. But the Long Island part is a total lie - I only know a couple of kids from there. In all seriousness, I have found that LOTS of Tufts students are either Jewish, or one of their parents is Jewish, or something along those lines. But that's not to say that other religions aren't prevalent or celebrated or respected. I've found Tufts to be an accepting place where students enjoy learning about each others' traditions, cultures, and beliefs.

In Closing...
Oh, the campus is what I fell in love with first - it's completely GORGEOUS in the fall... and the spring... and the winter. The quad is so inviting in the warmer weather, with kids out playing frisbee and throwing baseballs, and in the winter the president's lawn provides a great hill for sledding.