Sweet Sixteen
The Class of 2016 is no longer an abstraction. 339 students (about a quarter of our projected class) just received an invitation to join Tufts’ 159th entering class through Early Decision I.
Our Admissions Facebook page is erupting with cheers as the new Jumbos claim their place in our community (or the on-line version of it, for now). It’s a fun moment.
The ED ‘16ers are an appealing bunch. Academically, they represent the strongest ED1 cohort in Tufts history: 91 percent rank in the top ten percent of their high school class with mean SAT scores of 703 Critical Reading, 712 Math and 706 Writing.
But as I always say, the data (impressive as it is) only tells part of the story. We admitted 171 men and 168 women from 33 states, DC, Puerto Rico and 13 countries. That includes are our first Jumbo from Alaska in six years (welcome to the Lower 48) as well as students from Australia, Bangladesh and Rwanda. Twenty percent are Americans of color (an ED record); nine percent are first-generation college-bound; and 44 percent are financial aid candidates. And, as a special point of pride, 47 percent of the ED engineers are women, a record high.
So why did these kiddos choose Tufts as their first choice? Here’s a sampling from the “Why Tufts?” responses they submitted on our supplement:
- “I am an unashamed news junkie. I get the impression that at Tufts, the people taking courses with me wouldn't ask me why, because they all understand already.”
- “Professor Fuchs' study on repetitive protein domains and the chemistry department's chemistry journal club, paralleled by the hundreds of student run activities, makes Tufts ideal.”
- “At Tufts I am home.”
- “I was very excited to learn I could major in Computer Science, minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership, continue learning Spanish, and even take history courses such as Europe in the Early Middle Ages.”
- “I knew Tufts was the Utopia of my reveries when I couldn't find a reason not to like it.”
- “Tufts is a school of philosophers…and I live at the epicenter of an incredible storm—a roiling, dynamic, thrashing storm of the mind.”
- “The fact that Lee Coffin knows the lyrics to Ke$ha's ‘Blow’ is hilariously awesome and just says more about Tufts' willingness to mix work and play.” (Um, I am guilty as charged…)
- “I hope the Bubs are looking for a new baritone…”
- “What draws me to Tufts is the prospect of researching questions in the Advanced Technology Laboratory. I could carefully strengthen my dreams of solving many of Tanzania's problems (like) the shortage of electricity, lack of drinking water and the list goes on.”
- “Tufts will prepare me for a life consumed with environmental integrity, intercultural understanding, and active citizenship.”
- "If I open my eyes I can see it: a fourth-generation Jumbo clasping the tails of her father, grandfather & great-grandfather as we lumber up The Hill.”
- "Tufts, you have everything a girl could ever dream of having: brains, beauty, brawn, and Boston.” (As an interesting aside, she also studies The Wizard of Oz for references to the Farmer’s Populist Movement. How cool is that?)
- “To me, Tufts is an egg waiting to be cracked.”
To highlight a few of the personalities heading our way next September, the ED class features a nationally-ranked Scrabble player from suburban Boston, a professional guitarist from New Haven, New Mexico’s “We the People” state champ, the founder and president of the lumberjack club at a high school in Northern Virginia, a participant in Occupy Louisville, an equestrian from LA who competes in extreme cowboy racing and a blogger for Huffington Post. That’s quite a bunch!
We’ll watch out for the Singaporean who’s an explosive ordinance disposal operator (you don't see that every day on an extracurricular list!) as well as a field medic (he just finished his compulsory military service) as well as the community health student from Westchester County who reported “I am a ferocious, fearless and phenomenal skinny dipper.” Indeed.
I often say it’s cool to be smart (because it is) and the new crop of Jumbos walks that talk. Economics tops the list of their anticipated majors, followed by engineering, international relations, biology, English, pre-med (which is a course of study, not a major), chemistry, environmental studies, psychology and political science.
It's clear that many of you get excited by ideas. A pre-med from the Harlem Children’s Zone announced, “I’m a science nerd who loves reading about biochemistry & DNA.” (I feel like a slacker: I just finished the first Sookie Stackhouse novel...) The finalist in the “We Can Change the World” competition created a cell that uses the bacteria in mud to capture energy, which sounds impressive, while the music major and football recruit from Malibu reported, “At the piano I play Wolfgang Mozart but in my car I blast Wolfgang Gartner.” (The latter one is not on my ipod.)
I suspect the “hipsterism” columnist from DC will be an intellectual presence on campus. In his supplement, he mused about his "journey for spiritual self-understanding." He wrote, "The Tao Te Ching, Sartre and Kierkegaard didn't quite satisfy me. There's something unsatisfying by more existential, transcendent understandings of religion." I'll say it again: indeed.
A class discussion that features any and all of them feels like it would be exciting, doesn't it? So as we move towards ED2 and Regular Decision, Sweet ’16 is off to an impressive start!