My Tufts Transfer Story
I learned about Tufts at a college fair in Dominican Republic, where I grew up. The funny thing is that Tufts wasn’t one of the universities participating, but instead, the admissions representative for another US college was a Tufts alum. Because my dad had gone to that college, we talked with him for a while after the fair, mostly my dad asking him about the new changes in the university. While talking, I asked him where he had gone and he told me about Tufts. This was the first time I had heard about it, I was in 11th grade. Soon enough, I researched more about Tufts and was completely blown away by it even before visiting in Spring 2015. When I visited, I remember I knew I could see myself walking in the quad and interacting with students.
Due to poor logistics, I ended up taking standardized exams very late and my essays were not too strong. I applied ED2 to Tufts because I didn’t have my subject tests ready in time [which were a requirement at the time]. I got deferred and later rejected, which is why I went to another college for my first year of college. However, I still knew I still wanted to go to my dream school: Tufts. I visited once again during my Spring Break and sat in Professor Cruz’s “Making States” course and absolutely loved it, I felt at home—I was so into the class that I even participated and later talked with her. She’s now my Latin American Studies advisor and also the chair for my International Relations Senior Honors Thesis. The day I visited, I also met with Denny (my admissions officer) for about an hour and a half. I remember feeling so comfortable talking with him, he’s so approachable!! We talked about everything, I told him several stories of times I had felt challenged and how I had faced and dealt with these challenges. In some way, I was story-telling my life and who I was.
On April 28, 2017 I received the best news while I sat with a couple of friends on the quad at my first college: I had been admitted into Tufts, I cried from the overwhelming happiness I felt. I would finally be part of the community I had so longed to be a part of.