Making a Major Your Own
Working as a tour guide, I often hear prospective students ask me what makes Tufts unique, and my go-to answer always touches on how involved the students are. Interdisciplinary studies are a large focus of academics at Tufts because of our history as a liberal arts school. Although Tufts is now a tier-one research institute, the university maintains its liberal arts values by having distribution requirements across all three of our undergraduate schools (Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts). Distribution requirements ensure that students are well-rounded, open-minded, and curious. This exploratory nature is often what brings students with varied interests to Tufts. Roughly 60% of the undergraduate population is multidisciplinary, meaning they have a double major, a major with a minor, two minors, or even three.
One of my favorite parts about being a Tufts student is how this exploratory approach is taken even within specific majors. Here on campus, I study biology, which at other schools can be a very rigid path, often broken down into more specified concentrations within the major (cellular, ecology, etc.). However, here at Tufts, the biology major is very customizable, as there are no specific concentrations that students have to commit to; there is just the general biology major. This allows students to study a plethora of disciplines across the field/department without restriction.
To complete a biology major, all students have to take two classes of chemistry or physics, one course on cells & organisms, one on organisms & population, and one course on introductory genetics. Then, you complete classes across different groups: one cell-level class, one on organisms, one population-level class, one physiology course, one quantitative biology class, one advanced-level laboratory, and two electives. This allows you to develop a diverse understanding of the field of biology and also find your own niche. Within biology my main interests are conservation and ecology and I’ve been able to focus my coursework by taking classes such as the Principles of Conservation Biology, Primate Social Behavior, Marine Biology, and Microbiology. My friends who are interested in pursuing a career in medicine have focused their studies with courses like Cell Biology, the Biology of Aging, Cancer Biology, and Immunology. This structure has allowed me to pursue my interests through my coursework, complete my major on time, and maintain an open mind to new topics and opportunities. In my time at Tufts, I’ve taken several classes and met many professors who have led me to discover new personal interests within biology, research positions on campus, study abroad opportunities, and graduate study programs (e.g. the Tufts Fifth-Year Master’s) that have shaped my time as an undergrad and plans for the future.