Tufts is a small-ish liberal arts university outside of Boston, in Medford, MA. Tufts has ~5,800 undergraduates, and just about as many graduate students on their campus. Its mascot is Jumbo the elephant, which is cute. Fall 2020 is going to be a hybrid situation for students, with online and in-person offerings.
Their supplement is relatively short—just two questions—which makes it harder in some ways because you have just two opportunities to show Tufts why you’re excited about becoming a Jumbo. Let’s get into it:
Short Responses for the Class of 2025
1. Which aspects of the Tufts undergraduate experience prompt your application? In short, "Why Tufts?" (100-150 words)
This is just a very *very* short “Why Tufts?” response. They’re the hardest to do because you can’t fit much into 100-150 words, so we suggest focusing truly on 1.5 things. One big and one small. Trying to do too much with this will dilute your response. This isn’t the time to flex about how much you know about Tufts -- rather, this is the time to hone in on your elevator pitch and what you value. Imagine your friend asking you, “Why are you applying to Tufts?” How do you respond, genuinely—what attracts you to the school? What makes you feel excited about Tufts? And incorporate details here because God is in the details.
2. Now we'd like to know a little more about you. Please respond to one of the following three questions. (200-250 words):
It’s important to think carefully when deciding which prompt to respond to. We’ve weighed the pros and cons, and what to think about, below.
A) It’s cool to love learning. What excites your intellectual curiosity?
We like this prompt because you can really show your academic curiosity and level of engagement. But, the trick here is to keep it about you. It can be easy to wax poetic about Roxane Gay’s new book or your fascination with baking and your search for the chemical makeup of a perfect salty chocolate chip cookies. These things excite us too. But make sure that the essence of *you* does not get lost in your little rant. Tell a story here that reveals:
how you see the world
how you ask questions
how you investigate something when it interests you
and ALSO your interest that you want to highlight.
This prompt should have a beginning: a question; a middle: a process of discovery; and an end: your excitement that shows why this thing should matter to whomever is reading this essay.
B) How have the environments or experiences of your upbringing – your family, home, neighborhood, or community – shaped the person you are today?
This is a classic “community” essay—UMichigan has a similar prompt. So does Yale. But you can’t just talk about a general community that you’re a part of—they are asking you HOW this community shaped the person you are today. This means telling a specific and discrete story about some small internal or emotional growth and its link to your engagement within a larger community (though the community itself can be a big or small). Start by brainstorming a bunch of growth points that you’ve noticed in yourself over the last, say, 5 years by writing on this prompt: In 7th grade, what did you love to do? What did you believe to be true, and what got you angry? How have these items or values changed over time? From there, you will be able to identify some points of change. Maybe in 7th grade you really truly thought that horseback riding was life, and that that was the beginning, middle, and end. All of your friends were/are from horseback riding. That was/is a big thing for you.
And, since 9th grade, you’ve also been volunteering for an organization that gives homework help to kids from underserved communities. And a lot of those students can’t do anything like horseback riding after school because it turns out that you need a car, time, and a lot of expensive gear to do this sport. How do these realities shape your current understanding of the world and the person who you are today? Both of these communities—both your horseback riding community, and the student community that you engage with as a volunteer tutor—have shaped your nuanced understanding of access and resources. Tell a story that highlights this intersection. But we find that going back to who you were and what you valued 5 or 6 years ago tends to shed light on differences. And then tell a story about how you got to where you are today.
C) Where are you on your journey of engaging with or fighting for social justice?
We are going to give you permission to not answer this prompt just because of the moment we are in. We think you should answer it if you really *really* have something new and tangible to offer that goes beyond: 1) getting on a soapbox; 2) reading some books and feeling really, like, enlightened by Ibram X. Kendi’s words and ideas. This is Tufts’ attempt at being kinda woke and indirectly engaging with the last 6 months and the importance of Black Lives Matter. To us, this is a weak attempt at virtue signaling. And it’s hard not to write a weak response to a weak prompt. This is not Tufts’ best look. @Tufts, your undergrad population is 53% white and your faculty is 71% white, where are you on your journey of engaging with or fighting for social justice?
The only story you should tell in response to this prompt should be a small and tangible action that evidences your engagement with your own prejudice or your direct experience of personal prejudice. But, we’re wary of the latter because we know that you are so much more than your experiences being marginalized. And you really shouldn’t use this opportunity to share your formerly problematic, perhaps pretty bigoted views and how you are now #achangedperson. That said, there is a story here for the right person. But make sure it doesn’t star you as a white savior.
Also, if literally nothing—not a conversation, book, movie, or Instagram post that you’ve engaged with over the last 6 months, year, 2 years etc.—tempts you to write a response to this, you probably have some work to do? And we have some great lists of books, movies, and other media for you to get going on. Not for the sake of your college application, but for the sake of your life. Email us, we’d be happy to advise.
Tufts is an incredibly competitive school to get into. And with COVID rendering so many parts of your application useless (we’re looking at you, test scores) your essays are going to be even more important.
Let us know if you have any more questions about this or other supplements -- we want to help!