Many of the pre-frosh visiting campus this week have more than just Tufts on their minds. They are comparing Tufts to other schools on their list, and trying to find out where they belong. And while many feel that there is no place like Tufts, there are some schools similar to ours in certain ways - our peer schools, which we compete with for applicants.
According to Dean Kristine E. Dillon there are some schools she considers to be like Tufts.
"[We are] comparably competitive academically and similar in one or more ways to us are Washington University, Northwestern University, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Rice, Emory, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, and Johns Hopkins." Dillon said.
Statistically, Tufts has some matches. According to US News and World Report, Tufts ranks 28th. When compared with other national schools based on academics and university size, four names are most popular.
First there's Brandeis. It's younger than Tufts (it was founded in 1948), and smaller - Tufts houses 4,869 undergrads to Brandeis's 3,169. Tufts accepts 26 percent of its applicants, while Brandeis accepts 48 percent. Brandeis, a predominantly Jewish school, is not considered to be a diverse university; while Tufts is comparatively more diverse. In addition, Brandeis does not have a Greek system.
The two schools have a similar, $27,000-per-year price tag, but Brandeis offers financial aid to a higher percentage of its students - 47 percent of Brandeis students receive need-based grants, compared with 35 percent of Tufts undergrads. Tufts is renowned for its IR department while Brandeis is known for political science.
Another peer of Tufts is Georgetown, known by many for its International Relations program and political science studies.
"If I were to look at IR somewhere else the main one I would think of would be Georgetown, the school of foreign service, I don't know which is better [the Tufts IR department or Georgetown's],"senior Sam Gough said.
While many students may consider Georgetown comparable to Tufts, there are some differences. Georgetown is religiously affiliated as a Jesuit institution while Tufts has no religious affiliation. Georgetown is also somewhat larger than Tufts, with 6,418 undergraduate student, and less expensive than Tufts at $25,425 per year. However, Georgetown offers less financial aid grants than Tufts (by 1 percent). Both schools have about the same number of applicants; Georgetown accepts 22 percent of its students.
Another school Tuftonians chose from when making their college decision is Brown University in Providence, RI. Senior Molly Field feels that many Tufts students looked at Brown as well as Tufts.
"Lots of people who look at Tufts look at Brown because they're the same size and similar environment. Although Brown is an Ivy League, of course," Field said.
Brown University is also larger than Tufts, boasting 6,029 undergrads, and it has a lower acceptance rate - 16 percent of its applicants are invited. Like Tufts, Brown has sororities and fraternities, although they are less active there than there are at Tufts. Brown is known for its liberal atmosphere and it has a widely used "create-your-own-major" option for students, similar to Tufts' plan of study. Cost-wise, Brown is more expensive than Tufts at $27,152, although it offers financial aid to more students than Tufts does - 36 percent of Brown undergrads receive need-based grants.
When senior Michelle Khan was looking at schools, she was deciding between Emory, Washington University in St. Louis, and Tufts.
"When I was applying to schools people I knew were trying to decide between Emory and Washington University. Those were three main places people wanted to go because the opportunities seemed pretty equal," Khan said.
Emory University is often compared to Tufts because of its size and notable academics. However, Emory is considerably larger than Tufts - there are 6,316 undergraduates studying at Emory, where 45 percent of the applicants are accepted. Emory is affiliated with the Methodist Church and it has a larger fraternity and sorority population than Tufts does. The cost to attend Emory is slightly less than Tufts, at $25,552, and only 29 percent of students at Emory are receiving need-based grants.
"I guess if I weren't looking at Tufts I'd look at Emory. They're both supposed to be around the same level of academics," senior Eric Shrago said.
Other students compare beyond these four universities.
"I'd like to say Tufts is comparable to Skidmore, but Tufts isn't really that artistically inclined. So I guess it's more comparable to Bowdoin," junior Heather Vergo said. "They're both really academic."
Senior Jennifer Sapp looked into several other schools during her college search, including one which she considers a peer, Washington University.
"I would say probably Washington University [is a peer school] because it is a similar size to Tufts and has comparable departments, professors and courses," Sapp said. Sapp considered Wash U. and paid its deposit while she was waitlisted at Tufts.
Other schools she looked at included Emory, all the UCs (Sapp is from California), and some schools of the Ivy League, which were recruiting her for crew at the time.
Sapp is glad of her decision to come to Tufts in part because of the perks after graduation.
"It was the best decision I made because it provided me incredible opportunities for my future now that I'm graduating," Sapp said. "The job I have next year I got through the New York Recruiting Consortium, I think the Tufts name gave me an edge to set up interviews. I still had to carry my weight, but it was still an in."
