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Am new in posting messages though I've been following several boards. Have enjoyed some of the conversations but now it's crunch time.
Our fine S has been accepted at Tufts, Rochester, Brandeis and UCLA. Rochester and Brandeis awarded him merit scholarships that drop the cost considerably; for UCLA we are in-state.
His interests don't lie in science or math; probably he will major in something along the lines of history, int. relations, possibly communications of some sort, possibly a language, possibly Middle/Near Eastern studies, or possibly something that at the moment hasn't entered any of our minds.
I'm a native New Yorker but he was born in here in CA and has a hankering for trying the East for college.
From out here it's difficult to assess the comparative merits of Tufts, Brandeis and Rochester. We'd appreciate information from anyone having personal knowledge of the schools - recent graduates, current students, parents.
What information? Comparative academic strengths in such studies. Tufts is reputed to have fine departments. Is it true? How do the others compare? Is one more competitive, more demanding of students than the others? What is the workload like? Are they all work hard/play hard (as Tufts is supposed to be)?
Social life. He's quite friendly but not an extrovert. Are the main social activates large parties or small get-togethers? What sort of social events if any are in the dorms? Any information would be useful.
School spirit - do students support the teams vigorously or is support so-so? If school spirit is manifested in other ways, what might they be?
Jewish life - what is it like (our family is probably best characterized as "traditional")?

Having asked for information it's only fair that I offer to give what I can, so feel free to ask.

By Soozievt (Soozievt) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 08:13 pm: Edit

I'm not sure I could help you in regard to each school on your list. I mostly could speak to Tufts where I am an alum, as is my hubby and my D is considering going there and we have visited a few times recently. I also would need to know a little more of his preference as to size/location. You said the east, so that would be a mark against UCLA. The schools on that list are all much smaller than UCLA as well. Brandeis and Tufts have Boston in common. But the city of Rochester is not as great as Boston but not sure what your son cares about in that regard. Tufts' location is ideal to me (this is an individual thing of course) cause you get this nice New England college campus, lots of things in walking distance, and then you can get on the T and be in Harvard Square in ten or fifteen minutes, and all of Boston beyond. Brandeis is not as close or as fun of a location but still quite near Boston so could be good enough (if he cares about that sort of thing).

Considering your son's academic interests, Tufts clearly shines in those areas. International relations at Tufts is a strength. Also they very very much value a diverse student body from all over the world. They highly value a world view of things and also study abroad, all of which seems to fit what your son likes. Academics at all those schools is on the high end. Tufts is a more "selective school" in terms of admit rate than Brandeis or Univ. of Rochester, not that it has to matter, but just saying. The student body has pretty high qualifications. I think the kids work hard there but it is not so hard core, as kids are the type who are actively involved in EC interests as well.

Hillel is well established there....and I believe there is a significant Jewish population on campus though of course Brandeis goes without saying too. Btw, my D is Jewish and a prospective student at Tufts.

I do not think Tufts is a party school in terms of reputation. I think kids enjoy themselves and do not just study. They also have all of Boston in their backyard. My daughter did an overnight on campus and thought the kids seemed great. I think there are a wide variety of types of kids there (I recently had lunch in their cafeteria and noticed this). My D said that everyone she spoke with on campus (random students) said how happy they were at Tufts. Sports are not big at Tufts...not a big rah rah school but they do have teams.

I hope I gave you some sense of it. Another frequent poster here, Ariesathena, graduated from Tufts a year ago and could give you more recent views of the school. We met her when visiting Tufts and she is a wealth of first hand information.

Marite, a frequent poster on here, went to Brandeis and could speak more about that school of course.
Susan

By Dadofsam (Dadofsam) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 09:35 pm: Edit

Thanks, Susan. I have seen many of your postings as well as Ariesathena's, and appreciate the insight and enthusiasm, both past and present.

I know of Tufts from when I lived back East but not a lot in depth about the other two. We chose to apply to all three because of their sizes as smaller universities and their reputations. The scholarship awards make the cost of UR or Brandeis about $ 50,000 less than Tufts over 4 years and we are working on deciding how much different the education will be. We visited all three schools last summer but unfortunately were only able to come between sessions, so we saw very nice, very clean campuses populated only by tour groups and the admissions offices. The Tufts campus was indeed quite nice, and so was Davis Square.

I have also seen postings from Marite and look forward to her information.

We did get a good impression of Rochester and I hope that someone from there with as much knowledge and insight as you posts information.

By Dogs (Dogs) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 10:14 pm: Edit

Tell me more about Jewish Life. Do you have any idea what percentage of students are Jewish? Is there a lot of activity?

By Marite (Marite) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 10:50 pm: Edit

Actually I went to Brandeis nearly 40 years ago, and things have changed tremendously since then, so I cannot speak to the current situation. I do know that many buildings have sprung up, mostly to accommodate the lab sciences. Brandeis does have a good history department and a good math and physics departments. But I have no feel for the undergraduate experience these days. Sorry about that.

By Aparent4 (Aparent4) on Friday, April 02, 2004 - 10:59 pm: Edit

I know someone at Brandeis quite well and understand that the campus is quite religiously diverse. If you are an NPR listener, you are probably hearing from Brandeis faculty members on a regular basis; they're an impressive group.

From an academic viewpoint, it's hard to beat Tufts. There are many students on campus interested in or majoring in international relations, so your son would find kindred spirits. As Susan said, it is the most selective of the schools. However, they are all good, and $50,000 certainly makes a difference. Good luck! Great choices.

By Nitebirdmom (Nitebirdmom) on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 12:57 pm: Edit

My son is a freshman at Brandeis. About half the kids are Jewish, but only a relatively small percentage are very religious. The social life is relaxed, but existent. I would not describe it as a 'work hard play hard' school. My older son goes to Union, which truly is a 'work hard play hard school' and has significantly more partying than Brandeis, although not an overwhelming amount. There is lots to do at Brandeis, and students are involved in everything from political activism to acting. My son has found it easy to make friends. He is an easygoing type of kid and found the social life to suit him well. The academics are excellent as well.

During freshman orientation the kids are put into groups of about 14 with student leaders. They meet often, especially during the beginning of the year, and he has found some friends from this group (the groups are totally random). This helps personalize the process of adjustment. There are 2 quads for freshman, so most of them live together.

There appear to be few, if any, weak departments at Brandeis. Sciences are uniformly strong (lots of pre-meds). My son's interests lie in politics, law, economics. The professors he has had have all been excellent. There are many well known professors there (Robert Reich, Anita Hill) and they do teach undergraduates. This semester my son has a class on civil liberties with Jeffrey Abramson (expert in the field), and is taking an introductory course on political theory with him in the fall. He is currently taking an Intro to Law class and the TA's are all attorneys. He has enjoyed all his classes immensely.

Although I don't have much personal knowledge of Tufts, it has a wonderful reputation and I know it is very strong in International Relations. My older son applied (was not accepted) there are we were all quite impressed with Tufts when we visited it several years ago. This same son was accepted to Rochester and we visited there are well. It is more known for the sciences, but it has been trying to improve the image of the social sciences as well. The students seemed friendly and intelligent. Rochester is in an area of New York that is very cold and experiences very cold winters. Being from the New York City area, we found it remote, a schlep to get to, although an excellent school.

The best way for him to decide is to visit (or revisit) the campuses and see where he is most comfortable. When a school is "right", usually the student feels it when he visits.

If you have any specific questions about Brandeis, my son is home this week for Passover (Brandeis conveniently closes for the week) and I will be happy to ask him. Good luck with the decision - they are all excellent schools where he is sure to get a great education and meet good friends.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 05:30 pm: Edit

Some thoughts on Tufts and Brandeis (I know very little about Rochester):

Tufts is roughly 35% Jewish. Brandeis is about twice that, with some 66%. The Hillel at Tufts is quite active. Brandeis does have an entirely kosher dining hall (Sherman), where there are two kitchens, two sets of trays, plates, silverware, etc. That would certainly be attractive for someone who keeps very kosher. Tufts is pretty good about providing kosher food during Jewish holidays, but there certainly is nothing like Sherman there.

Tufts is probably one of the best schools in the country for International Relations. Fletcher Law and Diplomacy is a part of the Medford campus; there are dual-degree programmes and research opportunities for undergrads. The professors are amazing, not just professionally but in the amount of attention they give to their students. It is not at all unusual for a professor to invite students over to their homes for dinner, to take the classes out at the end of a year, or to keep in touch with students long after the kids are out of the courses.

The workload is certainly intense, but not overwhelming (though engineering is rough). IR has a lot of required courses - I think some 8 language courses in addition to those for the major. The work hard/play hard mentality is certainly there.

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 05:37 pm: Edit

Social life is varied. If you are into the frat party scene, it's there. If you are into the dinner with friends and renting a movie socializing, it's there. There are a fair amount of campus events, and Boston is certainly close by. It does seem as if socialization varies by year: the freshmen tend towards the parties or watching DVDs in the dorms, while the upperclassmen tend to go out in smaller groups and explore Cambridge and Boston. Juniors and seniors tend to congregate in the off-campus apartments.

There are assorted dorm activities; the Resident Assistants are required to put on a certain amount every semester. In addition, hall snacks are usually a weekly occurrance: a few people get together and arrange for food for a small section of the floor. Everyone then has a study break and mingles.

There is little school spirit for sports, but I think SoozieVT put it best. To paraphrase... "Tufts is not one of those rah-rah schools where students fill the stands, but everyone there loves it. (Soozie's D) asked students what they thought, and they were a bunch of happy campers."

At graduation week, the alums return to campus. I met some people who had graduated 45 years prior - just imagine the effect that a school would have on people so that they return decades later and get all misty-eyed. Most alums that I've spoken with really loved their time there and have great memories of it.

On the Tufts boards, you could ask Abs and Bullwinkle for some current student insight.

By Robin (Robin) on Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 06:01 pm: Edit

My son is in his second year at Brandeis. I agree with everything that Nitebirdmom has said. My son loves Brandeis so much that in a phone conversation the other night, we were discussing his returning to Brandeis after the Passover break when he said to me that he is taking the 12:00 Amtrak to go "home" next Tuesday. My son had also applied to Tufts and Rochester. Actually, Tufts was his first choice and he applied ED. He was deferred, then rejected. He was accepted to Rochester with $10,000 per year merit aid. He never really considered Rochester because he was leaning more toward the social sciences and Rochester is known for their sciences and although he really liked the school, he didn't like the location.

Perhaps I am a little biased towards Brandeis, but I truly believe that he will get the same high caliber of education at Brandeis that he will at Tufts unless he wants to study international relations or communications. If those are his intended majors, then he would be better off at Tufts. They have one of the best IR departments in the country. If he is leaning toward Middle/Near east studies, then Brandeis should be his choice because they have probably the best Middle/Near East dept. in the country.

You have a tough choice. Both schools are very similar in a lot of ways. They are both Boston area schools. Brandeis is 10 miles from Boston, but getting there is easy. The commuter line is on campus and they run a shuttle from Thurs-Sun. to Harvard Square and Boston. Both have large Jewish populations, but being Jewish is probably a little easier at Brandeis because the school observes all Jewish holidays and closes for Passover. They also have a large kosher dining hall. Socially, Tufts may have a slight edge in that they have Frats & Sororities on campus. The Frats & Sororites at Brandeis are off campus.
The social life at Brandeis is more laid back, but there are always school sponsored events and parties as well as theater. The clubs at Brandeis are very active. Most kids get involved with more than one club. My son is a low key kid and wanted to avoid large party schools which is why Brandeis was perfect for him. He has gotten involved with about 3 clubs and is constantly busy. The professors at Brandeis are amazing. They are completly approachable and helpful and get involved with the students outside of the classroom as well. My son has relationships with several professors even some that he hasn't even taken a class with. When we toured Brandeis the student giving the tour asked if anyone read the book "Tuesdays with Morrie" which is about a former Brandeis student's relationship with his favorite professor. He told the group that almost every student at Brandeis will have their own "Morrie". In my son's case, he was right.

Good luck with your decision. Your son is in a win/win situation.

P.S. Nitebirdmom, our sons have the same interests. My son is also very interested in law, ecomomics and especially politics. He is very active in the Democratic club at Brandeis.

By Dadofsam (Dadofsam) on Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 02:20 pm: Edit

Thanks for the messages, Robin, Ariesathena, Aparent4 and Nightbirdmom. Good information. We hope to be visiting all 3 later this month once I figure out the logistics. Got to get there from California, then get from place to place to make all the scheduled events.
Here's another question - what's your opinion about being present at an official open house vs. visiting the school on some other day?