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Alright, so I'm hearing about a lot of people wanting to know good things about schools they're interested in. What I want to know is... what are the bad things? What are their weaknesses, either academically or socially? Be honest, but don't bash.

Wesleyan
Tufts
NYU
Vassar
Rutgers
TCNJ
... any takes?

By Spiffybrownboy (Spiffybrownboy) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 10:34 pm: Edit

Okay, you can bash them... have fun, go wild. Anyone?

By Sopranosweety6 (Sopranosweety6) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 10:55 pm: Edit

I love NYU to absolute death, it's a big consideration for me especially because I'm such a big city girl but there in itself lies the problem. NYC is a big city and with NYU being right in the middle of it all there truly is No campus. There is no place where all the students congregate, no place that you can really claim as NYU "turf" so to speak. If you're looking for a great campus with trees, pretty secnery, and solid barriers, NYU is not your place.
~Lisa~

By Arthurd (Arthurd) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 11:35 pm: Edit

I agree with the last post. I live in NYC, and can say that NYU is basically several buildings scattered throughout Manhattan. Not a good thing if you are looking for a campus or superb social life.

By Spiffybrownboy (Spiffybrownboy) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 11:53 pm: Edit

Yeah, my father used to be a professor and NYU and he's not too fond of the idea that I go there. He says I'd hate the city life (I love visiting NYC but I guess I might get frustrated with the city, and the lack of a close-knit feeling other college campuses might offer). That brings to me to the other colleges on my list... what downsides do they have?

By Spiffybrownboy (Spiffybrownboy) on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 11:54 pm: Edit

BTW, I'm looking to major in Biology (interest in genetics). So if any of the schools above have sucky bio programs, point them out please!

By Jjsmom (Jjsmom) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 12:28 am: Edit

Rutgers: have to rely on slow, unpredictable bus system to get from class to class. One of the ugliest campuses ever. Enormous classes in freshman/sophomore years.

TCNJ: In the middle of nowhere. The closest thing to a shopping district is a 7-11 a few blocks from campus. Is a real suitcase school, totally empties out on weekends.

Tufts: pretty rigid core curriculum, with especially extensive language requirement.

Wesleyan and Vassar: Surrounding areas are pretty much dead.

NYU: The opposite of the above. Maybe TOO much activity surrounding the school... too much city, too little campus.

By Apguy (Apguy) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 12:50 am: Edit

Tufts- A school rivalry with Harvard is suicide...

NYU- A lot of hippies and those theater loving people, a lot of guys are gay (bad for girls), becoming a lot more selective than it should.

By Spiffybrownboy (Spiffybrownboy) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 12:51 am: Edit

Haha, yeah Rutgers is pretty ugly. Too bad it's the closest one to where I live. I see how TCNJ could be a "suitcase school," as a lot of the students attending are local and probably go home for the weekends. I agree with everything else you said about the other schools as well.

By Sopranosweety6 (Sopranosweety6) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 09:25 am: Edit

If you're interested in biology and specifically genetics I'd have to say go with Tufts. Also I know that MIT is a very hard school to get into but if you're looking for a specific study within biology ie. genetics, MIT is the place to be.

By Spiffybrownboy (Spiffybrownboy) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 12:56 pm: Edit

MIT is completely out of my league (I have a 1320 SAT!!! ) But thanks for the suggestion, lol. Yea, I know Tufts is the best out of those schools for bio... but I heard some bad things about it. I was actually considering that my early decision until I heard that, like APguy said, some people at Tufts are bitter ivy-league rejects. I don't want to be around those people. Also, I heard there are racial tensions on campus and relations between different groups of students can be tense. There also isn't a lot of diversity. These things totally turn me off to the school, as I am Indian and looking for a school that is very diverse (and I mean diverse overall, not just a lot of Indians --- that would drive me nuts as well). Also I'd like a school with a good music program as singing is a big part of my life (but of course, that comes second to my major). Wesleyan seemed like the best choice for me since it filled out most of my criteria... what do you think? I don't know a lot about colleges so I'm gathering as much info as possible.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 01:57 pm: Edit

I'll weigh in as an '03 Tufts alumna: Tufts is awesome for biology (which you have heard). Yes, many people were rejected from Ivies; however, most people were quite happy to have gone to Tufts and loved the experience. The bitter-Ivy reject phenomena is limited and disappears by sophomore year. Racial tensions aren't that tense... though that is my opinion - mostly it is one person in a school of five thousand who starts something, then a bunch of people are looking for an excuse to get upset - though that behaviour is limited as well. I have no idea where you heard about Tufts not being diverse... but it simply isn't true. My stepmom commented that my senior formal picture with my friends was quite telling about diversity in the school: about 1/2 of the 20 or so people were Caucasian, with the rest being Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, African-American, etc. It is something that, after four years at Tufts, I didn't notice; however, to an observer, my friends are quite racially diverse, and it certainly wasn't planned that way. In terms of religion, the campus is diverse as well: I've shared rooms or apartments with women who are Presbyterian, Hindu, Jewish, agnostic, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Catholic (I know there are repeats, but I went sequentially... thought it would give you a better idea).

Tufts is affiliated with the New England Conservatory of Music... Tufts and NEC have a joint programme that you can look into.
http://www.tufts.edu/as/music/pos.html
is the website, which will give you a decent idea of what's going on.

Jjsmom is correct about the very rigid language requirement at Tufts (at least three semesters, followed by an additional three in a different language, three of the same culture, or additional language and culture same as the initial three). For example (because it's a bit tough to understand) you can take three semesters of, say, Spanish, and three semesters of, say, ancient Roman culture. Now, if you continue in Spanish, you can take four or five semesters of Spanish and one or two of a Spanish culture (must total six semesters). Or, you can take three Spanish and three Japanese... hope you get the idea. The courses are quite demanding. If you aren't into language, go into engineering to avoid it.

In all honesty, the worst things about Tufts are: lack of financial aid except to the truly poor; campus so liberal (2% conservative faculty) and so intolerant of non-liberal (not even conservative - anything which isn't very, very left of center) viewpoints that it creates problems; the latter is confined to a few but highly visible (if you read campus publications) people - makes it frustrating for others who really have better things to do with their time than throw a fit when a frat puts up pictures of women to advertise itself; and a tough core curriculum (but grad schools love Tufts students because of that).

By Spiffybrownboy (Spiffybrownboy) on Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 04:17 pm: Edit

Oh... I see. Nice to get the input of a person who actually went there. I guess I had some misconceptions about Tufts. I was totally wrong about it being conservative. I always thought it was very conservative but, silly me! I myself am very liberal (or consider myself to be, anyways), so my views wouldn't conflict with those of others. Actually I couldn't care less anyways because I'm more of a "do what you may, I don't really care" kind of guy... haha.

By Richen (Richen) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 04:30 am: Edit

Spiffybrownboy,

I think Vassar, Wesleyan and Tufts are obviously the three best schools, and it then boils down to what kind of campus do you want and location plus finances. Rutgers and TCNJ are badly located and academically inferior, IMHO. NYU can be fun being in the city, but is also rife with drugs from what I hear, and academically ranks low also. So good luck!

By Aspirer42 (Aspirer42) on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 10:27 am: Edit

Would someone mind doing some UChicago bashing, so I can see its weaknesses?

By Obh100 (Obh100) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 03:18 am: Edit

UChicago is suicidal academics, no campus, located in the city, and has monotonous stone architecture, now if you go a few miles North to Evanston, now Northwestern now thats a school ;-) (of course theres no bias since I'll be at NW in the fall)

By Theuofcgirl (Theuofcgirl) on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 05:28 pm: Edit

Bad points about the U of C:
1. The weather blows. Chicago weather is horrible (that's something you can't escape even if you travel North to Evanston).
2. Some people are extremely competitive, pretentious, etc. All of the things that you've heard about the arrogance of the U of C are true, even if only in a small bit of the school's population. Most *normal* people aren't that competitive, cutthroat or arrogant.
3. It's hard. It takes a while to learn that you should be happy for a quarter's report full of Bs and B+s.
4. It's not *in* the city, but it is. It takes about 25 minutes to get downtown, but it's worth it.
5. Some of the dorms are far away from campus (ie The Shoreland. Sure it used to be a luxury hotel and the rooms are HUGE.. but it's so far from campus).

As for the ugly, monotonous Gothic-architecture filled campus.. I love it. I think it's gorgeous.