Tufts accepted 10.5% of applicants to the undergraduate Class of 2029, Tufts’ admissions office announced. The acceptance rate shows an increase of half a percentage point from last year’s acceptance rate and is one percent higher than in 2023. Decisions were released on March 20.
The university received 33,400 applications, a slight decrease in comparison to last year’s admissions pool of 34,400 applicants.
55% of the new class attended public high schools, similar to last year’s admitted student pool. This year, Tufts also received the second-highest number of applicants from Somerville and Medford high schools.
“The second largest share of Boston Public School students in recent history has been admitted to Tufts, as well as many outstanding students from Somerville and Medford who grew up visiting campus throughout their childhoods,” Deans of Admissions JT Duck wrote in a statement to the Daily.
The admissions office, according to Duck, continues to prioritize Tufts’ host communities in recruitment. 90 students admitted to the Class of 2029 are residents of Medford, Somerville, Boston and Grafton, Tufts’ host communities. In last year’s admitted student pool, 80 students from Tufts’ host communities were accepted to the class of 2028.
Outreach to small towns and rural communities are also a focus of Tufts’ recruitment efforts across the United States. Over 50 students in the admitted class engaged with Tufts through Small Town Outreach, Recruitment, and Yield virtual and in-person events held during the past two years.
“One of the exciting things for me is to see new high schools represented in each year’s admitted class — schools that have not sent an applicant to Tufts in the last five years, if ever,” Duck wrote. “It is a testament to the expanding name recognition of the university, and the appeal of a Tufts education to students in more and more communities.”
Over 7,700 applicants were first in their family to go to college — a record number of first-generation applicants. These students make up 11% of the undergraduate class of 2029.
Earlier this semester, the university reported 42 students, compared to 30 last year, were admitted early from Tufts’ largest QuestBridge National College Match applicant pool. About 15% of the admitted students to the Class of 2029 will qualify for a Federal Pell Grant.
11% of this year’s accepted class are international students, representing over 70 foreign countries. Last year, Tufts accepted over 400 international students representing 100 foreign countries.
The admissions office announced earlier this semester that Tufts received a record-high number of applicants to the School of Engineering. The top areas of academic interest for the new class, according to the admissions office, include “biology, pre-health pathways, and community health; mechanical and biomedical engineering; computer science; psychology and cognitive and brain sciences; economics; political science; and interdisciplinary art studies as part of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.”
In Tufts’ fifth year of the six-year SAT/ACT test-optional pilot, about 65% of admitted students submitted SAT or ACT scores, which is a 5% increase compared to the class of 2028.
A “sense of belonging” was an enduring theme throughout admitted applicants ‘Why Tufts’ essays this year, according to Duck, and many applicants conveyed a sense of connection with Tufts as a primary reason for their application.
Tufts hopes to be able to offer admission to waitlisted students after May 1, as admissions has done in previous years.
