Tufts University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Undecided
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Heterosexual Female

Summary

Student-Athlete

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public school on Long Island with a little over 500 people in my class. There was definitely a culture of going to college.
First Generation College Student: No
Major: Undecided
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: Student-Athlete

Academic Experience

What has been your favorite class so far?
Intro to Psychology
What has been your least favorite class so far?
Expository Writing, it was the basic, intro level writing.
Has there been anything you have felt Tufts has done especially well or poorly academically?
Especially well, I would say they tailor the class size to the class itself. Even though I didn’t really enjoy the Expository Writing class, I liked how it was a small class because I think that is important in a writing class. Whereas, in my lecture classes, like Art History, I felt that it was appropriate to have 50 kids in the class.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I would say it’s a pretty competitive learning environment.
How accessible have your professors been?
My professors have been very accessible. Especially as an athlete, there are times when we have an away game or there’s something going on and an extension would be really helpful. They’re super accommodating and very understanding of how, especially for freshmen, the experience can be a little overwhelming.
How was managing both your sport and your coursework?
It definitely takes discipline and management, but it’s not impossible. It’s very rewarding and I’m really glad that I am able to do both.

Reasons to Attend

1) The people. The people at Tufts are some of the best people I’ve ever met. It’s a really great community and everyone who is there is really passionate about being there and passionate about Tufts.
2) The quality of the school. The classes, the instructors, are amazing. The connections you can make after graduation from Tufts are really great.
3) The location. I love being so close to Boston. And, not just being close to Boston, but also being close to other schools, like Boston University, Boston College, and Harvard, and you can be in a really great college environment.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) Although I really like the fact it’s a very open-minded school, it’s very left-leaning to the point where I think if you’re not super left-leaning, it could be a harsh environment. It’s maybe a little judgmental towards the right.
2) If you don’t want to put in a lot of work in writing papers. There are a lot of writing requirements during freshman year, so those classes that are mandatory at Tufts. Freshman year was a lot of writing papers.
3) If you’re looking for a school that has huge parties, a lot of Greek life, and lots of alcohol all the time. Tufts isn’t that kind of school. It’s more of a laid-back party environment.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Hogdon Hall with one random roommate, it was fine we got along.
Sophomore: Haskell Hall in a suite with a group of my friends. I’ll have a single.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
On campus is definitely very safe. It really feels like a community with houses and there are always police cars roaming around and everyone’s super nice. I’ve never felt unsafe at all on campus. Outside of campus, there are some areas that I don’t feel as safe as I do when I’m on campus. For example, Davis Square is a little sketchier. There’s a lot of homelessness there, but, for the most part, as long as I’m there during the day it’s okay. I wouldn’t go there alone at night.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Pokeworks
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
My friends and I really like to go to the Boston Public Library. It’s a beautiful library right in Boston. We study there and there are beautiful gardens outside and we can walk around the city after.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
There’s not a huge Greek life at Tufts, but the sports teams have off-campus housing and a lot of the nightlife takes place there in the sports team’s houses. Then there’s also bars and pubs in the greater Boston area, so that’s a fun way to go out at night also. When I’m not in season, I go out usually Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and then when I am in season, just Saturdays.
[8 of 18 fraternities and sororities are deemed as being “in good standing” by the university.]
Are there certain places you go on certain nights?
Yes, on Tuesday everyone goes to this place called “The Pub,” which is a couple of minutes from Tufts, and on Thursdays, there is usually something called the Burren Night, which is at this bar in Davis Square, which is a really cool area that everyone goes to. It’s a live music kind of thing.
What have been some of your favorite times at Tufts?
My favorite event so far has probably been Halloween. Holiday parties are really fun at Tufts, especially since most of the big holidays, like Christmas and Halloween, fall out of season, so those nights are really fun and we get to spend them together as a team.
Can you describe a typical night going out freshman year?
Getting together with a group of like three or four of my friends and having a small party in one of our rooms starting at like 9:30. Around 10:30-10:45, we’d make our way to a boy’s [sports team’s] house, that’s the main house that parties are at on the weekend, and we’d walk over there and we’d go there until like 1 or 1:30 in the morning.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at Tufts? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m personally very happy with the nightlife at Tufts because with the amount of academic work I have to do and [my sport], having something with a little bit more of a party atmosphere wouldn’t really be the best for me. It’s not a crazy party school, but I think it’s enough. The people that are there are great, so I really like it.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
I met them through [my sport]. My closest friends are my teammates.
How would you describe the social scene at Tufts?
Overall, it’s definitely a bit of a quirky school. Not everyone is into the traditional college party atmosphere. There are people that are into that traditional atmosphere. It’s really diverse, so there is something for everyone I think. It’s a very intelligent group of people and there’s a lot of subsets of friend groups and different kinds of people. It’s a very diverse social scene.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
Very, very well. It’s definitely a big thing at Tufts. It’s almost hard to [understand] now that that’s not how it is everywhere because it’s such a part of Tufts. It’s such a diverse school and it’s such an accepting and progressive school. It’s great in that respect.
How would you describe the student body?
The student body is definitely very diverse. There are people from all different kinds of socioeconomic backgrounds and religious backgrounds and people of all different kinds of sexual orientations. Tufts definitely makes it a point to have our student body be that way. We’re very accepting and encouraging of different kinds of ways of life. It’s a very accepting, open-minded community.

Careers

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how accommodating was the office to your needs?
Yes, I do have financial aid. The financial aid office is extremely accommodating. Everything at Tufts is need-based, so, they look at your financials and how many siblings you have in college and they tailor a financial aid package to you to make sure you can go to Tufts.