Tufts Blogs

There are so many great places to study at Tufts and everyone has their preferences on where they like to spend time to do assignments or projects, but here is my top 3 ranking of the places I like to go the most. This is for sure not an exhaustive list, but please enjoy some of my favorite spots!

1. The Campus Center

The Campus Center is my ideal study spot. Perfect for people watching, socializing, snacking, caffeinating, meeting groupmates, solo working, or game playing, the Campus Center has it all. With plenty of tables across 3 floors, there’s always some place to enjoy.

The bottom floor, my personal favorite, has a plethora of seating. Whether in Hotung Café, or outside Commons Marketplace, the wide floor plan gives a nice range of seats with tables of all sizes making it easy to find the perfect setup for your preferred study style. From cozy corners for focused work to larger tables for collaborative sessions, the space adapts to whatever you need. Hotung and Commons both offer great food and drink options available to purchase through JumboCash. Through treats like avocado toast, pizza, acaí bowls, pastries, and Starbucks drinks, Hotung is the perfect pick up in the middle of a busy day. Commons is filled with a custom salad bar, fresh burgers, prepared salads and sushi, energy drinks, and snacks.

The main floor is home to The Sink coffee shop, a student-run café home to specialty drinks like the Cinny Vanilla (a cinnamon vanilla latte) and the Lucy in the Chai (chai latte with a shot of espresso). The Sink also has multiple tables to sit at if you like (and are lucky enough to grab one, they go fast!). Next to The Sink is a game room, filled with board games, pool tables, and ping pong tables for a perfect mid day break.

Upstairs on the 3rd floor is home to many study and meeting rooms where you can enjoy some distraction free productivity as there is usually less hustle and bustle than the lower levels. You can also grab a seat along the perimeter of the floor at the small two person tables. I love going up to one of these tables to do some homework in peace and quiet.

2. Tisch Library

Tisch Library is a wonderful study spot as well located in the middle of campus. If you’re interested in more details check out the recent blog from my friend Emma. Home to many books (don’t ask me or your tour guide the number, we don’t know :) and three floors of study space, as well as a 4th home to the Digital Design studio and classrooms, Tisch can be the perfect place to study solo or collaboratively. I also love the using the whiteboards placed throughout the building to draw out my ideas.

The bottom floor of Tisch, otherwise known as the Basement, is somewhere you will never find me. Reserved for complete silence, this is perfect if you like no noise and need somewhere to completely lock in. However, there are many interesting books in the stacks here, as well as study rooms available to book to have privacy. This floor is also home to the Tufts Archival Research Center which is home to many cool things including Jumbo’s tail!

Up a flight of stairs, you’ll find the first floor. Also pretty quiet, this is my favorite place during finals to grab a seat in one of many cubicle options. I also like the group tables down here too. This floor is also home to the Tufts University Special Collections, which has some really cool old books.

I usually spend time up another flight of stairs on the main floor! There are many tables to choose from, I personally love a good four person table near the front overlooking onto the Campus Center via the windows or a long table in the middle of book stacks. Awesome for group work, gossiping, or locking in, these tables have heard many of my conversations. I also would recommend checking out Tower Café for yummy snacks and drinks to purchase via JumboCash. Near the entrance, also on this floor is the Hirsh Reading Room for silent study. The data lab is also on this main floor dedicated to providing methodological and technological support for a wide range of geospatial and data science apps. I have lots of friends who do work in ARC-GIS here for the Environmental Studies Major.

Then, the 3rd floor has a few classrooms, but also the Digital Design Studio which has a recording room, large format printing, 3D printing, a studio space, and media equipment to check out. All the floors of Tisch have lots of books to choose from, both academic and for pleasure! Tisch is a great place to study and do work throughout the day and night.

3. Lilly Music Library

As a non musician or performer, I rarely spend lots of time in the Granoff Music Center, but I do love the Lilly Music Library. Pretty quiet but usually not too busy, this hidden gem in the bottom floor of Granoff is a great place to review notes and write essays. With individual cubicles, the privacy is nice to be free of distractions. This is my favorite place to lock in on individual work in silence. I also love the comfortable rolling chairs here. The Lilly Library also has thousands of music scores and books on various musical topics in the stacks. This library is a perfect oasis downhill!