Brown and Blue is the best!

Introduction
I chose Tufts for three main reasons: 1) Location - Tufts is located just five miles from Boston, which is a great city with plenty of activity and tons of college students. However, it's not right in the city but instead out in a suburb (that has its own couple of nice squares (Davis and Teele) where there are restaurants, stores, and clubs. The campus is well-kept and pretty, and there is always something different going on during the weekends. So you basically have a variety of social options based on location alone. 2) Size - Tufts is a really unique size. It's not huge, so you won't get lost in the crowd, but it's not tiny either. You'll meet new people all the time and have plenty of extracurriculars, but there won't be so many people that you can't get into things or run into the same groups all the time. 3) Variety - Tufts has a diverse student body and an array of social and extracurricular options. It provides plenty of opportunities in all areas so you never get bored socially or academically.

Campus Life and Social Life
I'll get it over with. Tufts in not a huge party school, so if you're looking for giant frat parties, this is not the place to come. However, if you want to party there are places for it. People do party at frats, in off and on-campus houses, or in the dorms. If you're not into partying, there is plenty else going on: film screenings, lectures, dances (including two annual huge semi-formals), Spring Fling ( giant celebration in the spring with a concert and cookout/fireworks the night before), student organization shows, pretty much anything you can think of. Plus there's Boston. Easy and cheap to get into, plenty to do while you're there. But I haven't found I need to go into the city to have fun.

There is something like 150 different clubs, so obviously unless you're ridiculously picky, you'll find something. If you don't, you can start your own club. I was a little disappointed that they don't have lacrosse or field hockey club sports, but I shouldn't complain because I could start my own if I put enough effort into it. The only other thing I hear people consistently complain about is school spirit. I need to clarify. There is school spirit. People love Jumbo (the mascot) and seem to be very happy and enthusiastic about the school. However, sporting events are generally not well attended at all. So if you're looking for huge sports spirit, this might not be the best place. If you want to play sports it's great though, because there are plenty of options and it's pretty easy to balance life as an athlete here. Housing is a little annoying, because it's not guaranteed all four years, but it isn't hard to find off-campus housing or live on-campus for MOST of your college career. Academics
My workload has not been difficult. It's challenging based on how many courses you take and what major you are, and you have to work. But it's not impossible to do well and you can definitely still have a social life. I've found my classes to be interesting for the most part, and I've had a number of really great professors. The Experimental College is an amazing program, bringing non-traditional courses to campus such as Baseball Statistics. I took one of those classes and it literally found me my passion and maybe future career. Languages are strong here, and there are a lot of premed kids (but it's not cut-throat like some other schools). I honestly haven't heard of any department being particularly sucky, and I know that international relations is huge and has a great reputation here.

Student Body
Students are from all over, although it's true that many are from the northeast. What do you expect when the school itself is in the northeast? There is a large number of international students, which makes things really interesting because there are so many different perspectives on everything. For the most part, the student body is energetic and enthusiastic. Everyone is involved in something, from the Tufts Mountain Club, to the Leonard Carmichael Society (community service) to Tufts Dance Collective. I don't really think that there is a typical Tufts student. However, the student body seems to be mosty liberal when it comes to politics. But if you are conservative, it is not a problem and this shouldn't deter you from coming!

In Closing...
I couldn't be happier at Tufts. I transferred into Tufts this year from a tiny school full of snobs in the middle of nowhere. The people here are happy, kind, enthusiastic, and just nice in general. There is such a variety of things to do and experience. The connections you can make are great and the opportunities provided both by Tufts and the city of Boston have changed who I am and what I want to do. Come to Tufts because even in four years you won't be able to take advantage of everything that it has to offer!