I say this during every info session, and I will repeat it here- answering the question “Why Tufts?” is really, and I mean painstakingly, difficult. After staring at a blank word document for longer than I would like to admit, I decided to see how I answered this question over five years ago. After about an hour of searching through my computer, I finally found all ten versions of my Tufts supplement. This was my “Why Tufts?”
“After extensive research and college visits, I am convinced that I would thrive at Tufts due to its intimate academic environment within a world-class university that takes a global approach to education. I am an active learner who is prepared to take my knowledge beyond the classroom and into the world.”
At the age of 17, two things stood out to me about Tufts- the intimate academic environment combined with the resources of a larger university and the school’s global focus. Sure, these aspects of Tufts are still very true and important today, but I was missing the most crucial piece- the people. Tufts students are passionate, intelligent, supportive and kind, but most of all surprising. I cannot think of a single Tufts student that I have met that fits seamlessly into a stereotype- Jumbos live to go above and beyond what is expected of them and defy any preconceived notions.
Where else but Tufts could you find a girl who spent her summer doing physics research at CERN in Geneva, was recently accepted to a Ph.D. program for experimental high energy physics and also happens to be the first chapter president of Tufts’ newest sorority? Or the Army ROTC cadet, who is a double major in history and psychology (and minoring in Chinese and military studies), spent his summer mastering the art Kung-Fu and then his subsequent semester in Budapest and also does psychology research and is on the fencing team. What about the varsity basketball player, who will graduate this spring with a triple major in Chinese, biology and biotechnology and still finds time to be a tour guide? During my time at Tufts, I was lucky enough to pursue a double major and a minor, hold two major leadership roles within the Greek community, compete with our Bollywood fusion dance team and volunteer in the admissions office. Tufts, and the Jumbos that make up the community, encouraged me to be myself and embrace my varied interests. I was welcomed with open arms into many different communities and given the support, encouragement and inspiration to excel without ever having to worry about being judged.
This blog post greatly exceeded the 50 word limit that our applicants were allotted, but I know that writing a novel would not be enough room for me to sufficiently answer this question. So I will end by saying while I may not have initially chosen Tufts for the people, they are the reason that I have stayed.