Engineering applicants follow the same application process as any first-year applicant to Tufts. Here are some ways to tailor your application to successfully demonstrate your fit for our School of Engineering.
Curriculum Requirements
We strongly encourage applicants to the School of Engineering to pursue four years of rigorous math and science study in high school, including physics and calculus when available and accessible. If you have any specific questions or concerns about your curriculum, please contact the admissions officer for your territory.
Testing
Tufts University has extended its test-optional admissions policy for all undergraduate applicants for a 3-year period, beginning with applicants who apply for the Fall 2024 semester. First-year and transfer applicants have a choice about whether or not to submit SAT or ACT scores to be considered for undergraduate admission to Tufts University through admissions for Fall 2026. For more information on taking the tests and sending your scores, click here.
Optional Maker Portfolio
This portion of the application is optional, meaning it is not required (and we truly mean optional). Students applying to the School of Engineering may submit a Maker Portfolio to showcase their engineering-related projects. You might have an arduino masterpiece that you can't wait to share with us. Or maybe you built your own rock-climbing wall in your backyard with your best friends. Who knows, you may have designed something super specific and super important for your FIRST team's robot. Whatever it may be, the Maker Portfolio gives you the space to share something with us, in images and videos, that might otherwise be hard to capture in the written portion of the application. We even wrote a blog to help you imagine what a Maker Portfolio might look like and how we view it in the application process.
You will be able to submit your Maker Portfolio only after you have submitted your application to Tufts. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive a link to your Tufts applicant portal. Submit your portfolio by selecting the “Digital Portfolio” tab in your applicant portal, where detailed upload instructions can be found. Applicants who choose to submit a Maker Portfolio must do so by November 7 for Early Decision 1, January 9 for Early Decision 2, and January 9 for Regular Decision. As part of the portfolio submission, applicants will also provide a response to this prompt: Tell us about your creation, project, design, or device. Helpful jumping-off points for sharing your work with us might include sharing what role you played in making your creation, what inspired the project, how you approached a particularly tricky part of designing your device, or something else entirely!
Below you can view an example of a successful Maker Portfolio that was submitted to Tufts. It's meant to inspire your creativity and help you see what kind of information is helpful to share with the admissions office in your Maker Portfolio - your own successful portfolio may look very different from these. And stay tuned for updated examples from students in the current Tufts Classes of 2025 and 2024!
Korri Lamepdusa
1. Tell us about your creation, project, design, or device
I have always approached my work by considering the reasons and stories behind what will eventually become the result. My product design portfolio focuses on the area of assistive technology. I feel challenged to contribute some answers back to a world full of problems, to aid individuals that live with handicaps, disorders, and other issues. Now and in future expeditions I want to seek out all the angles behind each situation presented and reach the best solution after many cycles of ideation, testing, and refinement.
The first project I completed in my series was the footwear concept Metik. The shoe integrates an artificial biofeedback and response system into a wearable piece for the everyday person that has minor to severe problems with involuntary movement. Metik prevents fidgeting or prolonged inactivity, allowing the user to be in optimal physical condition.
Robotik is a toy is intended to be kept in therapy facilities or pediatric care waiting rooms for children with visual or auditory impairment. Different settings can provide sensory responses when all the pieces of the toy are oriented together and built correctly.
Both Neuroceptor and Thermowalk are therapeutic technologies to aid children with ADHD and Cerebral Palsy, respectively. Neuroceptor is a wearable headset intended to train a child with ADHD to develop a stronger working memory, a key deficit their disorder inhibits. The system is worn like a pair of over ear headphones and features different modes for different uses. Thermowalk is therapeutic device to wear during physical therapy as the user works to improve balance and rhythm in movement.
2. What role did you play in making this creation?
For all of my design projects, I research relevant background information prior to many stages of idea mapping and sketching by hand. With AutoCAD, Rhinoceros 3D, and MAYA, I finalize the design with vectorized drawings and renderings. For some projects, I am able to physically model the design with 3D printing, foam, wires and more. Presentation boards are made with Adobe Photoshop CS6.