This blog takes place after winter break of my first year, when the time to move back to campus finally arrived. I was nervous about moving into a new place with a new roommate and worried about how hard it would be to branch out. When I moved in, it felt like clockwork. I was used to moving in quickly because of my boarding-school experience. I was both anxious and excited to meet my new roommate and see everyone from Civic Semester. When I finally met my roommate, all my fears melted away. I was used to living with people, but it can still be nerve-racking to meet someone new. She also introduced me to some of her friends in the dorm. After getting adjusted, it was nice to meet up and catch up with the Civic Semester kids.

Getting used to my class schedule took a couple of weeks, but it was a breeze once I got into a routine. The first weekend back on campus, Civic Semester hosted a reunion all weekend, which was a great opportunity for everyone to catch up and talk about their experiences…

It's been a little more than a month since I completely moved out of my first-year dorm, and I've been feeling nostalgic. So I figured there's no better time to reflect on what it was like living at the Courts at Professors Row 95, Tufts’ most unconventional first-year residence hall.

When my housing assignment came in over the summer, I was kind of confused. "The Courts at Professors Row 95” didn't ring any bells, so I immediately texted my friends who were also heading to Tufts and they reminded me about the buildings constructed on tennis courts back in 2022. Unlike the traditional multi-story residential halls, the Courts were originally built as quarantine housing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of the three buildings is essentially one long hallway from end to end, with bedrooms, common spaces, and bathrooms lining the central walkway.

My initial reaction wasn't exactly excitement. But then I found out the Courts are the only first-year residential hall on campus with…

Hey Y’all, 

My name is Silas, and I have been giving tours for some time now. I have been leading tour groups in middle school, high school, and now at college representing Tufts University. There is something so fulfilling about the opportunity to show visitors and prospective students the place I call home, what I study, how I spend my time, and why I have come to love each space so deeply.

Over the years, I have encountered no shortage of questions; some have been pretty funny while others are quite thoughtful and unique. In this post, I would like to share some of the best questions I have received over the years while being a tour guide. I can guarantee that by asking these questions you can make a meaningful impression on your tour guide, but more importantly you can gain deeper insight into the student experience at the school you are looking at and see if it is truly the right fit for you.

1. How did you meet your first friend on campus?

Nearly everyone who comes to college…

Hi everyone! In this post I’ll be writing about what it’s like living off-campus as a Tufts student. While all first-years and sophomores are required to live on campus, many juniors and seniors move off-campus, slowly climbing their way to the inevitable: true adulthood. Just kidding. Acquiring an apartment and living off campus may sound intimidating and a bit scary, but I can assure you it’s a fun experience; if you’re lucky, maybe it will even entail dinner parties, movie nights with friends, and independent living. 

To start, I’ll tell you about the process of finding housing. Coming to Tufts as a transfer student, I immediately started the off-campus housing search process. While I was initially apprehensive about the process, knowing no one at Tufts, it was simple. First, I took advantage of the transfer student Facebook group the undergraduate transfer admissions team put together; I joined the group and immediately began reaching out to other new Tufts students! From there…

I’ll be honest, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do when I started at Tufts. There’re so many different fields and majors out there to choose from, and it’s fantastic to have that many opportunities. However, it's no secret that the process can certainly be overwhelming at times, but it doesn’t have to be! This is my long journey to finding my English major, and how I made use of Tufts requirements and pre-major advising along the way!

My pre-major advisor connected with me before I even arrived on campus, and that first meeting helped start setting the groundwork for my path forward. She and I met online and started to get to know each other, discussing my general interests and potential classes. She really helped make sure I understood the requirements at Tufts, especially the distribution requirements that cover a wide range of disciplines. At her encouragement, I took courses during my first semester that helped fulfill some of those requirements and provided me with the…

Dear reader, 

As a Tufts student, from time to time you’ll want to find something interesting to do in the Boston area, but might feel overwhelmed or a little lost on what to do, especially if you’re not familiar with the city. This blog post is here to help give recommendations from a Boston native on my go-to spots in the city whether for food, fun events, or a great time with friends. 

To start, my first recommendation would have to be Boston’s West End, specifically the area around North Station and TD Garden on Causeway street. This specific street has a multitude of great cuisine and dessert spots to choose from, including an entirely indoor food hall called The Hub. I love being able to catch a movie at the AMC on Causeway, it’s personally my preference over the Boston Common location, and I have a passion for going to concerts and supporting the Celtics so TD Garden is another frequent spot of mine. 

The next place I frequent often is East Boston, which also happens to be…

Considering our mascot is Jumbo, it implies everything at Tufts tends to be big - from Zara Larsson gathering thousands of students onto our academic quad during Spring Fling, to the notes belted during our yearly a cappella group riff-offs to, our infamously hilly campus. And while each of these do make for core memories throughout the Tufts experience, the more “niche” parts of it, I’ve observed so far during my time here, also hold similar weight.

Let's start a major concern for the average college student: study spots. Sometimes it is refreshing to crack down on that academic work in a Pinterest-esque setting and luckily, Tufts has those! While lawn chairs have been strategically scattered across campus, overlooking breathtaking views down the hill and reclined just enough to be close to our beloved campus bunnies, a personal favorite of mine would be Tisch Roof. Amongst the nice greens and view of Boston, a little gazebo, with creeping flowers and greens, called Alex’s Place…

I can’t believe it’s been almost two years since I began my journey to tertiary education. As I approach my second year of college, I can't help but reflect on everything that has happened since then.

My college list was one I had begun meticulously curating some time before my final year of high school. I had a color-coded Google Sheets spreadsheet with every college neatly organized alongside a list of pros and cons. Since flying to visit physical campuses wasn’t much of an option for me, my laptop became the closest thing to a college tour. I spent hours watching campus tours on YouTube, following someone through a library or across a quad halfway across the world. I am slightly ashamed to admit that my initial attractions were based on how “aesthetic” a campus was. I love nature and beautiful spaces, so I wanted somewhere I could imagine studying on the lawn or walking through tree-lined paths.

Once I had a list I was somewhat satisfied with, I began my applications. Applying to…

If you’ve ever been on a campus tour, you’ve probably noticed that every tour ends with a “Why Tufts” statement from the tour guide. So let’s talk about mine, both then and now.

To give you some background, I went to high school here in Medford, MA. Being so close by, I obviously knew about Tufts. But funny enough, that proximity actually made me less likely to consider it. I always knew it was a great school, academically competitive and well-regarded, but I never seriously pictured myself here until I took a campus tour. And honestly? I fell in love almost immediately. There was something about how green and alive the campus felt that just got me. That tour gave me a real sense of what life here could look like, and that’s ultimately what pushed me to apply.

Another thing that drew me in was the sheer number of student organizations, especially the pre-professional ones. What really caught my attention was JumboCode, Tufts’ pre-professional software development club. The more…

Hey Y’all, 

I think one of the things I am most grateful for is having lived in New England my whole life and getting to experience the four seasons. Each season has something new to offer; whether it be the fresh foliage in the spring, the warm heat of summer, the changing leaves of autumn, or the snow and cool winds of winter. 

What I'm perhaps even more grateful for though, is getting to experience all four seasons at Tufts on Prez Lawn, a large grassy hill at the center of campus behind Tufts' president's house, which is where it gets its name. And if I'm being honest, it's one of my favorite spots on campus. I want to walk you through Prez Lawn in each season; what you can expect to see and, hopefully, help you understand why this place feels so special to me.

In the Summer, Prez Lawn is the perfect spot to throw down a towel, lay down, and catch some nice rays of the sun. There are plenty of trees here that provide shade and make it a great spot to set up a hammock. There's…

Whenever someone asks me what my minors are, I always prepare for the long statement I have to recite and a reaction of either confusion, or a blank stare paired with a soft smile to follow it up. I mean, I completely understand, as I don’t think I’d be able to process “I’m minoring in Ancient World Archaeology and Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora Studies” on the first try either.

So, what are these minors and how did I even decide to study them? 

It took only a single class to convince me that studying archaeology was something I wanted to pursue further. I had always been interested in the topic, but I didn’t really understand the specifics in what it meant to study archaeology, so I decided to take the course “Ancient Egypt: Civilization of the Nile and the Near East,” taught by Professor Matthew Harrington. This class was absolutely transformative- being able to combine sociology and tie it to artifacts and art felt like connecting pieces of the puzzle of human reasoning, behavior…

Soccer and basketball are my favorite sports. In soccer, I have always loved midfield players. There is something special about watching them control the game, create chances out of nowhere, and deliver passes that leave everyone wondering how they even saw the opening. At Tufts, I watched every single home game our men's soccer team played and every home game our Men's basketball team played as well plus a couple of other games. Watching those teams compete made me appreciate the sports even more and, at one point, even made me consider trying out for the soccer team myself.

Although I was interested in playing varsity soccer, I could not make the time commitment that comes with being a student-athlete. Instead, I found my place in intramural sports, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made at Tufts. Intramurals are a great way to stay active, compete, and have fun with friends. You simply gather your people, create a team, and see what happens. Our team, Intore…

It is hard to believe my first year is already over. I remember getting accepted to Tufts and then applying for Civic Semester. It feels like yesterday that I found out I was going to Thailand for my first semester of college.

That semester was truly a life-changing experience. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and immersed myself in a completely new culture and environment. I gained hands-on experience through an incredible NGO and learned about Indigenous issues in Thailand. Civic Semester is an amazing way to immerse yourself in a new language. I never thought I would be able to be conversational in such a complex language in a matter of weeks, but with my host mom I was speaking every day. My homestay experience was truly special. I know I’ve written about it often, but my host mom was a very special person who made Thailand feel like home. My instructors did an incredible job making sure we all got the most from the experience. No matter how many pictures you see, they never…

This summer, working as an undergraduate admissions intern, I’ve had the opportunity to take prospective students and families on countless tours across Tufts University. While each tour is unique, talking with students about their college search has given me plenty of time to reflect on my own experience.

Four years ago, as a junior in high school, I felt very unsure about where I would be in the next couple of years. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I didn’t know how to find the right place for me. So, my mom and I devised a plan. We bought a book on the top 300 colleges and universities in the US and flipped to the back, where each school was listed by state. Growing up in a small town in New York, I knew I wanted a college far enough from home to feel a sense of independence but close enough to drive home for breaks. So, I narrowed the list down to schools in New England. I also knew I wanted to study biology and had a passion for marine sciences and conservation, so I focused…

Growing up, I never imagined that I would attend college at all. I had other plans for my future, and college, especially college abroad, was never something that interested me. My dream was always to become the greatest person I could be for my community and my country. That dream has not changed, but the path toward it certainly has. Everything began one summer when a group of Tufts students visited my high school in Rwanda. Their visit sparked something in me and made me consider, for the first time, the possibility of applying to college.

I grew up in a community where many of the people we admired most were soldiers who had fought for the liberation of Rwanda and helped rebuild the country after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Their courage, sacrifice, and commitment to service inspired me from a young age. Because of that, I came to believe that military service was the primary way to serve my country. In many ways, I had closed my eyes to other forms of service and leadership…