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I've narrowed down my choices to either Brandeis or Tufts.

Brandeis guarantees me a $27k scholarship for each year if I maintain certain grades and with the financial aid, my family will pay about $6000 (this includes the loans). Tufts' financial aid amounts to $33k, and my family will have to pay $7000, but the aid can fluctuate from year to year based on parents' income. My father recently bought a business, which is why the EFC was so low, but he can only show losses for 2 years, then he will have to show the $100k+ net income for the business and the financial aid will probably diminish significantly (if not dry up altogether). I do not want my parents paying a significant amount of more money when they will only have to pay a max of about $11k for Brandeis.

Which school should I go for?

Does anyone know which has a better political science or psychology department?

Does Tufts' greater selectivity imply greater prestige?

Thanks

By Robin (Robin) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 06:06 pm: Edit

My son was rejected by Tufts and was accepted to Brandeis last year. He feels it was the best thing that ever happened to him. He absolutley loves Brandeis. According to him Brandeis is one of the most underrated schools in this country. The Professors are amazing and very involved with the students. He has already developed personal relationships with a few. The students are very friendly and down to earth and he has made a lot of good friends. He is a Political Science major and so far has only great things to say about that department. Statistically, 1 in every 6 students is pre law, so that should tell you something about their poly sci dept. He also plans on taking Pych as well. I hope this helps

By Lb123 (Lb123) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 07:08 pm: Edit

Thank you very much Robin!

Would you mind answering a few more questions?

Is the food good? (I have some misgivings about an all Kosher caf!)

Would you happen to know the most common law schools Brandeis graduates get into?

How does your son feel about the social scene? Does he have to go to Boston when he wants to have some fun or does the campus have an active social life as well?

My mother is Jewish, but were are not religious. Personally, I am an atheist, but I do not push my beliefs on others and actually enjoy theologica studies, etc. Will this affect me at Brandeis?

Thank you very much.

By Robin (Robin) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 12:10 am: Edit

To answer your questions. As far as the food goes, my sons says it is okay. Not the best, but not the worst. As far as kosher goes, only one part of one cafeteria (Sherman) has kosher food, all others, (Usdan, half of Sherman and the Stein) are non kosher.

As far as law schools goes, I can't answer that. Since the school has a great acedemic reputation, I think it is safe to assume that many pre law students get into top law schools. When we went to the open house last year, they told us that 80% of all Brandeis students go on to grad schools.

As far as the social scene goes, my son says he is having a great time. When my son was first accepted, one problem he had was that the school had the reputation of being quiet and dull. That proved to be not true at all. He says there is plenty going on on campus. Some weeks are busier than other weeks. They have school sponsored parties and trips (last week was a ski trip and last fall my son went to Boston to see the show Rent), they have concerts, movies, speakers, shows, etc. Occasionally, they go into Boston and Cambridge, maybe once or twice a month. The school runs a weekend schuttle into Boston and Harvard Square and the commuter train is at the edge of campus.

As far as religion goes, you have nothing to worry about. Brandeis is only 50% Jewish and most of the students are not religous at all. Only a small percent are. My son was worried about that also because we are a non religous Jewish family. There is much more diversity than you think. He has many non Jewish friends there and one of his roommates is African American.

The one downside that he found was that if you don't send you acceptance in fast enough then you will be put into a triple. He did'nt decide to go to Brandeis until about 5 days before the deadline, so he is in a triple.

Good Luck in your decision

By Louisa (Louisa) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 08:56 am: Edit

Well, I'd say DEFINITELY TUFTS!!! I suppose it depends on the person, but I know so many people who absolutely hates their lives at Brandeis... One of our alumnis came back to our high school during winter and he gave a 20 minute speech on 'Why you should NEVER come to Brandeis.' The speech was fantastic; it was a very convincing speech that made me HATE brandeis and so I didn't apply this year... On the other hand, I hear Tufts is just wonderful~

By Robin (Robin) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 10:50 am: Edit

Last year when we were trying to decide between several schools, these were the negatives that we heard about Brandeis.

1. If you are into a big party scene, lots of drinking and drugs, you will not be happy there.

2. If you are looking for a school with a big Frat or Sorority scene, you will not be happy at Brandeis.

3. If you are anti-semetic, or conservative, it is the wrong school for you.

4. Since Brandeis is considered an Ivy League backup school, you get many students who were rejected from Ivy League schools and spend there entire 4 years being miserable without giving Brandeis a chance. I have a friend who was there in the 70's who was rejected from Brown and was never able to allow herself to be happy there. When she looks back on it she realized she really did have fun there, but at the time was too busy being miserable to realize it. The same still holds true today.

Everything depends on what you are looking for in a school. My son is a low key kid, not into partying, so he wanted a school with no frats or sororities and where drinking was not the main activity on campus. Tufts was his first choice because he wanted a small campus outside a large city and it had a better reputation socially. It also isn't considered a big party school. Acedemically both schools are equal. Last year two kids he is friendly with from his high school were accepted. One kid loves it and the other one is very unhappy and is looking to tranfer next semester.

The best thing for you to do before you decide is if you live close enough, is to go back and visit both schools and talk to the students there. That is what helped my son to decide to go to Brandeis.

By Nymom (Nymom) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 11:21 am: Edit

I know many students at Brandeis and I'd have to agree with Robin. It has great academics and is a terrific school for students who are not looking for a big party scene. Brandeis also has a great reputation for getting its students into top notch law, medical & grad programs. There is a lot of construction going on there now, so things are a bit messy, but I believe most of that will be done by next fall. Of the students I know there, some went because they were not accepted at their top choice ivy, others applied ED; all of them love it.

By Jymfour (Jymfour) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 10:33 am: Edit

This is really a tough one. I, too, have a 27k brandeis scholarship and I really like Brandeis...the new student center is really awesome, and the new housing means that campus life is really heading in the right direction. Having said that, I am turning down my scholarship. My older brother graduated from brandeis last year and is in med school now. He looked at the general chemistry professors for next year and said they were SO BAD that it could actually end any hope I had of learning serious science and getting into med school. Apparently, Dr Hertsfeld can't teach herself out of a paper bag! THe Year my Bro was there He was lucky enough to get into Honors Gen Chem with one of the really excellent profs(Dr Foxman) and he learned a ton of chem. The people in regular gen chem were really upset because the course taught nothing and there was no way to prep for exams. People dropped out...it ruined their whole premed major. If you are not doing pre med or a chem or bio major... go to brandeis you will get a great education...BUT, CHECK OUT THE COURSES OFFERED FOR NEXT YEAR AND WHOSE TEACHING THEM THEN BE REALLY SMART AND CHECK THE COURSE EVALUATION GUIDE TO SEE WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF THEIR PROFS AND THE COURSES...YOU CAN GO BACK TO OLD CEG'S TOO(they're on the website). Good luck

By Nymom (Nymom) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 12:36 pm: Edit

Jymfour: You are turning down a 27k scholarship because you are afraid you will get a bad chem professor??? Maybe I am missing something here, but you can end up with a bad professor anywhere! You are right to advise checking out professors before signing up for a course, but I think you are premature to worry about med school at this stage, particularly with Brandeis' overall track record for getting students into med school! Just out of curiosity, where are you going next year?

By Jymfour (Jymfour) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 07:28 pm: Edit

nymom: 1. I have fairly substantial scholarship offers at Carnegie and at Case Western;I'm leaning toward CMU. 2. Your point about overreacting is well taken, but we're talking about a prof who caused such an uproar 4 years ago that half her class bailed and parents made formal complaints to Brandeis. Not a bad prof, a 2-standard-deviation-from-the-norm bad prof, teaching a required honors level course that is the basis of all that follows in chem... I come from a family of chemists and engineers and they seem to think my bro is right. 3. The delusion that Brandeis is a great platform for getting into med school is questionable. They actually have a huge # of premed entering freshmen, but by graduation the # is pretty low. The survivers do ok, but rarely make a top ten med school. I consider myself to be pretty realistic, I know how hard it has been getting into the schools I wanted to attend,and I feel truly lucky to know the career direction I want to pursue. Look at the Numbers...med school applicants to top twenty schools generally run >3.8gpa and 36-38MCATs...and Brandeis doesn't have the clout of an Ivy if your #s are a bit low...A poor base and grade in gen chem is sure to have a domino effect, and besides a really LOVE science and math so this is not the way I would choose to start my college career. I am truly disappointed that Brandeis' administration goes to the trouble to ask for student feedback and then flagrantly ignores it. I would love to be at brandeis.

By Jymfour (Jymfour) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 07:30 pm: Edit

nymom: 1. I have fairly substantial scholarship offers at Carnegie and at Case Western;I'm leaning toward CMU. 2. Your point about overreacting is well taken, but we're talking about a prof who caused such an uproar 4 years ago that half her class bailed and parents made formal complaints to Brandeis. Not a bad prof, a 2-standard-deviation-from-the-norm bad prof, teaching a required honors level course that is the basis of all that follows in chem... I come from a family of chemists and engineers and they seem to think my bro is right. 3. The delusion that Brandeis is a great platform for getting into med school is questionable. They actually have a huge # of premed entering freshmen, but by graduation the # is pretty low. The survivers do ok, but rarely make a top ten med school. I consider myself to be pretty realistic, I know how hard it has been getting into the schools I wanted to attend,and I feel truly lucky to know the career direction I want to pursue. Look at the Numbers...med school applicants to top twenty schools generally run >3.8gpa and 36-38MCATs...and Brandeis doesn't have the clout of an Ivy if your #s are a bit low...A poor base and grade in gen chem is sure to have a domino effect, and besides a really LOVE science and math so this is not the way I would choose to start my college career. I am truly disappointed that Brandeis' administration goes to the trouble to ask for student feedback and then flagrantly ignores it. I would love to be at brandeis.

By Nymom (Nymom) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 09:35 pm: Edit

Jymfour: I see your point, of course. But a word of caution here: all colleges try to whittle down the number of premeds; it was like that back when I was in college and it's like that today (actually it was alot worse when I was in college; it was almost impossible to get into an American med school, let alone a top 10, without a 4.0). If you are a top student you will probably do well anywhere, but I can certainly respect your decision if you have found a place that better suits your needs.

By Robin (Robin) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 12:06 am: Edit

Jymfour, if your really want to go to Brandeis, before you write it off, you shoud do some research on the professor in question. The problems you talk about happened 4 years ago. Maybe things have changed. If you live close enough, maybe you should go to campus and sit in on her class and talk to current students. If that is impossible, you should call the chem dept and tell them your concerns. Also, last year the school set up a bboard for incoming students. Check the web site. If a bboard was set up, you should try and find out any information you can. My son who is a current student there tells me that many of his friends are taking chem. They complain about the amount of work and the labs, but he hasn't mentioned them complaining about the profs.

All schools, even the ivys have bad professors. Don't pass up going where you really want to because of that. If you are disciplined enough you will do well despite a bad professor.

By Childe (Childe) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 12:56 am: Edit

"If you are into a big party scene, lots of drinking and drugs, you will not be happy there."

Okay, maybe I haven't been exposed to crazy drinking orgies in other schools... but I find the drinking/drugs/party/whatever scene at Brandeis wild enough. Since it has a sober rep., I'm guessing it's better than most other colleges (which makes me nauseously scared of imagining what party schools are like). The point is, if you want to get drunk every weekend, you can do it here with LOTS of like-minded people. And if you don't...well, there's no pressure, but don't expect a great deal of um... substance restraint.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 02:18 am: Edit

Hi! Congrats on admissions to Tufts and Brandeis. I'm a senior at Tufts who has visited friends at Brandeis. First off, to answer one question, Brandeis is a very good school, but Tufts is an excellent one. (No, I'm not saying that because I go there! ;) ) The selectivity does make a difference; basically, you have to work a lot harder because you are being graded against more academically talented people.

Tufts poli sci and psych are good, but IR (International Relations) is one of the top three in the country (if I remember correctly). Many people end up doing IR, as it's poli sci integrated with language and economics. The Fletcher School lends some prestige to Tufts IR. You should look into EPIIC, (http://epiic.org/)a year-long course which culminates in a spring lecture series about a selected topic. A few of my friends are psych majors, and seem quite happy with it.

Food at Tufts is excellent (rated second best nationally for non-culinary institutions in 1996, and the quality hasn't changed). The best part is the wide variety of options, with two dining halls, a campus center, take-out sandwiches place, and a campus coffee shop (which also serves specialty sandwiches and things like sushi). One of the dining halls does weekly make-your-own stir fry and make-your-own Belgian waffles. Food isn't outsourced, so dining services are more responsive than most schools to requests. I'm a vegetarian, and I certainly haven't starved at Tufts!

You can get a good education from either school, with Tufts giving you some edge in applying to grad school. The question is about environment. Almost everyone I know at Tufts really liked the people and the professors. There are varying social scenes on both campuses; try to figure out which you be happy with for four years.

If you are within driving distance to Boston, go to AOH (April Open House), which is quite worthwhile: you can talk to students in different majors, sit in on almost any class going on that day, sample dining hall food, and try to get a feel for the campus. Four years ago, there were also many panels for potential pre-meds, international relations, and EPIIC.

As was Robin's son, I was rejected from my top choice school. Regardless, I absolutely love Tufts and understand now that this is the best place for me. Someone at AOH told me when I was a senior that the best thing about Tufts is the people, which is certainly true. Most people are quite happy here. It is easy to find people who don't drink (there is a lot of substance free housing available) or people who do drink, or whatever your social pleasure may be.

I don't know much about the financial aid adjustment at Tufts, but that is something you can discuss with a financial aid officer before making a decision.

From what I know about Brandeis, Tufts may have a few more extracurricular activities, which could be a result of being a slightly larger school. Tufts has some six a cappella groups, five lit/poetry magazines, a daily and weekly newspaper, SCUBA club, medieval re-enactement club, mime troupe, several dance groups, Bhangra team, you name it. That's also in addition to a blanket public service organization (LCS) which approximately a quarter of the student body participates in.

If you have questions about Tufts, please email me - I'll be happy to answer any other questions! Good luck with your decision and enjoy the last month or so of your senior year.

By Dumbuket (Dumbuket) on Thursday, August 28, 2003 - 04:17 pm: Edit

As a current student at Brandeis, I have very mixed opinions. The students here are very nice; it's a very typical mix of students across all areas of the academic spectrum. The professors here are very good, too.

My only complaints are that the school is extremely small; I'd want more of a campus. The architecture takes some getting used to for the Ivy minded, but that's among the least important aspects of campus. My thing is, I'm very used to being in a competitive crowd, and one of the things that helps motivate me is being amongst intellectual people. Not self-conscious pseudo-intellectuals, mind you, (and you'll get those in droves where ever you go... don't worry, we all grow out of it). So I guess I'm saying I'm not in the right group is all.