Tufts University Top Questions

The academics at Tufts are extremely rigorous.

Academics will take up a large portion of your time at Tufts. That being said, it's as challenging as you make it, and the same goes for most upper-tier colleges.

The academic life was a sad disappoinment. The teachers were all miserable and dishonest. I wouldn´t have hired any of them.

Classes, well they're classes! Don't get it twisted! What ever you take at Tufts : YOU'RE GOING TO BE CHALLENGED!! But you always feel great about it knowing that you've really earned all your grades! But Tufts has an amazing Liberal Arts Program and you will probably find almost everything you can dream of especially through Ex-College! I definitely recommend those classes!!!! Professors are great and will get to know you especially if you want them to. I have gotten to know professors in huge seminars by taking the time to meet with them! If you address a concern and put a face to a piece of work, you'll get the help! Requirements can suck sometimes, but over all you do get a well rounded education even in the Engineering Department. Some of my fondest moments was that of sitting around with friends or suite mates and just talking about a whole range of topics triggered by class discussions: from politics, to culture, to pop culture, etc! I definitely recommend that everyone take a class that addresses the history or culture of another community: My African - American themed Classes were my favorite!!!

I'm not going to lie. The school is hard. Engineers pretty much need to take 5 classes (or 5 full credits) a semester and liberal arts students need to take 4. There are a lot of very hard classes and only a handful of those easy classes you want to take to boost your GPA. That being said, you are actually learning a lot and getting a good education. Even in classes that I bombed I still come out learning a lot of interesting stuff. Plus the fact that there are the 2 schools gives you a huge range of classes to chose from. Like I said before, I'm an engineer but I still took a psych 55: Human Sexual Behavior (or "sex class" as I called it) and it was awesome. Companies and employers know that this is a hard school too. A lot of places recruit at Tufts and some other NESCAC schools. A lof of professors actually do know me by name. It's nice because you will take classes with the same professor a few times if they are in your major. Because of this, they do get to know you by name and thats helpful. They will also make fun of me for my stupid haircuts that I rock at the end of the swim season before I shave my head.

I pretty much took all of the distrubtion requirements through the courses I wanted to take anyway, and I didn't regret the few extra I needed to. Tufts has a big language requirement (6 semesters) --but that wasn't a problem for me either, I'm a language major :) I was very appreciative of the lack of competition at Tufts --especially because I'm pre-med, and that was a big concern of mine. However, even among that subset of the student body, I felt like there was more collaboration than competition. Tufts students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. Most of us are dorks in some way, or policy wonks, or passionate about what we're studying-- and we share it with one another. I've said this in interviews that asked me to describe my undergraduate experience-- Tufts's two big "pushes" are internationalism and active citizenship. I definitely felt like those ideals translated into my experience even though I wasn't an International Relations major (the most popular major --in large part due to the proximity of the renowned Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) or involved in the Tisch College of Active Citizenship. And I'm glad that they did.

For first year engineering students, the experience is a little different than that of a liberal arts student. Most initial classes are intro classes in sciences, which take place in a lecture hall. Despite this, all of the professors were very approachable, and if the student makes any effort to have a personal relationship with the professor, the professors usually responded warmly. Professors are also required to hold office hours during the week, and almost all of them are quite happy to do so. Students are often encouraged to ask questions, even in lectures, and participation only goes up when classes are in smaller numbers. Students often talk or debate points brought up in different classes, but its always good natured and never competitive. Students are generally supportive of each other, and competition is never with the guy next to you, but with yourself.

Academics have a huge range on campus. The intro science classes are ridiculously difficult at times and can be really big. On the other hand, there are plenty of "joke" English classes that only have ten or so students. Participation is common and even required in smaller classes (especially language classes and bigger classes' recitations). Big intro classes are lecture format and discussion is limited to a few questions per class. Some professors really want to get to know their students, but in bigger classes, getting to know your professor is dependent on you and visiting office hours. Difficulty wise, classes are what you make of them. You can take three or four easy classes and rarely do work or spend your life in the library with six hard ones. Again, generally students aren't competitive with grades and it lends to a nice, helpful, study environment. Engineers and liberal arts students have different mentalities towards academics. Engineers are focused on learning skills for jobs, while many LA students don't mind writing history papers, waxing philosophy, and worrying about jobs later. I've noticed also that many engineers choose Tufts because even they have humanities distribution requirements - many want a broader education than more technical schools focus on. But LA students should be forewarned about the intense six semester language requirement! As a side note, the ExCollege at Tufts offers the most interesting classes usually taught by professionals in the real world. I took a journalism class last semester by a Boston Globe investigative reporter. It was awesome, and we even got to tour the Globe and a TV station.

Upper level classes are 100 times better than introductory. Favorite class was a focused clinical psychology seminar. Teachers in upper level classes know your names. Class participation is common, unless the class is early in the morning. Yes ppl have intellectual convos outside of class. Not too much competition. The language department is extremely difficult and the requirement in this area is way too heavy. I got a decent job right out of college, so i think it helped.

Students are competitive but not madly so. Most professers do know your name except for the ones teaching really large weed-out freshman classes. Favorite class: 20th Century Mexican Art History; Least favorite: Calculus II (It wasn't the class I disliked as much as the fact that it was at 8:30 in the morning and I really don't believe grad students should be allowed to teach actual courses...they just don't have the experience necessary.) Education at TUFTs is geared towards both employment and learning for fun, more of the former perhaps, but every single student I've interacted with love learning something new.

My first piece of advice is get to know your professors. They are awesome people who are dedicated to thier fields and to educating you. Tufts is a school full of smart, interesting and very opionated people. This is a good thing and bad thing. Good because many students are brave enough to question things which I feel is very important. Bad because a few students are very close-minded because of thier views. But Tufts is a wonderful environment to learn all you need in life. Not only will you learn in the classroom but all over the campus!

In all of my classes of 25 students or less my professors knew my name. In the larger lectures where there can be 150-200 students, they usually don't unless you go to their office hours. My favorite classes have been extremely small ones. I loved my Beginning Italian classes, my English 1 and 2 classes, and most of my Art History classes. My least favorite class has been Astronomy (as I only took it to fulfill a natural science requirement). The key thing to know about classes at Tufts are that they are not easy. Even the ones that are designated as "Joke" classes just to fill requirements I have had to work hard in to get that "easy" A. Academic wise, while I love most of my classes, I do not love the distribution requirements. I often find that I have to take classes in subjects I am not interested in because many classes that fill requirements that I would have been interested in are "weed out" courses for majors. Basically these courses are designed so that only the truly interested stay on in that subject. Sadly I often have to pass up on these courses and take things such as Astronomy or Plants and Humanities just to get my requirement, instead of taking Biology or Physics which I would find my interesting, but much harder and more time consuming, especially with labs. Tufts students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. I haven't found students to be competitive so far mostly because in general you do not know each other's grades and often don't take that many classes with the same people. Most professors are definitely available outside of class.

freshmen year i was not that impressed by the classes, but it was very hard to get into the classes i wanted. professors are pretty approachable, students do discuss issues outside of the class there are always only 1 or 2 students that are actively participating during class, however everyone seems to be concerned about their grades which is kind of annoying...people seem to want to get their work done, but not care about what they are learning

Classes vary from awesome to not so awesome. Same with professors. I'd say I've learned the most outside of class from my pears. The academic experience is really what you make of it, professors are very open to get to know students and there are tons of resources, but you can easily go through four years not taking advantage of any of it.

Academics are very varied. I would say the ost challenging in the science (pre-md) department. Departments like Bio are not out to help you and weed out their students. Our hard bio classes usually have a drop rate of about 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} and half of the people who stay in, 150, or so, get a B- or below. There is little effort to do anything but weed and therfore many people at this top college will do poorly in science. Other classes like english, which is one of the distribtuion requirements, can be so varied that one teacher teaches one thing and the other says the opposite. Grading between seciton or labs is usually pretty different. Language is emphasized but the classes have more work then anyone would ever expect for a language class and turn out to be just as time consuming as everything else. Anthropology is great and you could find classes related to almost anything you want to study. So in all honesty it depends on what you want to do. If you are pre-md or a dancer the departments there will not be suitable for you.

Academics is Tufts's strongest category. The classes are small after the intro classes, and you feel like you can connect with your professors. There are enough different types of classes for you to take pretty much whatever you like. This is helped by the affiliation with the Museum School for Fine Arts, and the Experimental College. The Ex-College is where I took such courses as Improv Comedy, Video Game Development, and The Analysis of Baseball. One possible drawback which is not singular to Tufts is that there is not much focus on the usefulness of the academic material once you leave the classroom. This is the positive and negative of a Liberal Arts education however.

classes at tufts really range in size. there are some intro classes (i took intro to psych and it had like 150 people in it) but then my english class the same semester was 6 people. ive really liked most all my professors (minus 1). class participation in smaller classes is common, in big lectures most people just shut up and listen .. or there is one kid who answers like every question and nobody likes that kid. students are not competitive with each other but with themselves (everyone pretty much likes to do well). Tufts core requirements are pretty stiff and you'll have to use a decent amount of credits to fill them (unless you were an AP allstar or something) a tufts education can be practical or just for the sake of learning depending on your major. (engineering stuff is pretty practical... philosophy is not as much).. you get the idea.

Professors will always know your name if you are in a smaller-sized class. The only time my professor didn't know my name was when I was in a lecture hall. Then, my TA knew my name. What I think is best about the teachers at Tufts is that they all truly care about your progress in the course. I can e-mail my teachers and have a response within a day or two. I can always ask them for help after class or during office hours and they are more than happy to help. Once, when I did badly on a math test, my math professor approached me after class and wanted to make sure that I understood the material, since I normally did better.

I haven't been to other colleges, but I really like the academics here. Speaking for the Chemical Engineering program, there are impossible problems that we are expected to solve. Of course we can't do them, but it at least shoots our arrogant asses down. Then we learn that someone eighty times as brilliant as we solve those problems for breakfast. Humility is a wonderful trait. I highly suggest the Japanese program. It's like a family there. Some students can be overly competitive, but where's the university where there aren't your average buttheads proclaiming that they know and do more than you. At the end of the day, you get laid more often than they, and that's how I sleep at night.

There's a natural curiosity in Tufts students. They love learning for learning's sake and like to be challenged. Often, class discussions carry on outside of classrooms, even into the early hours of the morning or at parties. Jumbos generally try to apply what they learn in their daily life. The cut-throat spirit of competition is mostly absent from Tufts students, but certain majors do breed it more readily (pre-med, BME). Still, most people are more than willing to share notes and form study groups. Professors are accessible and do care, but effort has to be made.

Do professors know your name? Almost all my profs know my name - the few exceptions are profs from the huge intro classes, but even some of those know me. Especially if you come to their office hours. Tell us about your favorite class. Not sure I have a favorite class, but I'll say EPIIC - an incredibly challenging but rewarding crash course in poverty and inequality. We did an Outward Bound trip to bond, had some serious intellectual probing, went on multiple research trips. We planned an international symposium which was attended by 70 students from 11 countries, tons of distinguished speakers, and Boston-area students and professionals. We hosted and led a conference for high school students, which was like model UN, but also included parties like human rights groups, the church, corporate consortium, etc, and helped them with discussion of international issues and passing of resolutions. It's resulted in a mesmerizing list of contacts and a few internships. Gotta love the Institute for Global Leadership! Least favorite? Probably Intro Econ. The professor was really boring, and instead I would just skip lecture and read the textbook. He was a part-time guy who also How often do students study? They balance studying and having fun pretty well. It depends on the major, and the person. But most people tend to take their work seriously. Is class participation common? Depends on the class - most times, in my experience, yes. But not so much in science classes. Do Tufts students have intellectual conversations outside of class? Definitely - often. Students from all disciplines. Are students competitive? Only with themselves, really. What's the most unique class you've taken? EPIIC, above. Tell us about your major / department. I'm really happy with the IR and Econ departments - lots of breadth in course selection, and the advising has been really helpful. Do you spend time with professors outside of class? Yes - in office hours, and sometimes just chatting on the way to class. How do you feel about Tufts 's academic requirements? I like them - it's not like Brown, where you don't have any kind of core curriculum, so people are relatively well-rounded. But it's not Columbia, where I'd feel I was taking classes I wasn't interested in when I wanted to take something more specific to my discipline. Is the education at Tufts geared toward getting a job, or learning for its own sake? It's whatever you personally want to get out of it. If your goal is a job, you'll take advantage of the courses and resources that are oriented toward the workplace. You'll go for internships instead of research opportunities, for example. If your interests are more academic in nature, you can structure your experience to reflect that preference.

I have been extremely happy with the quality of my professors and advisors during my time at Tufts.

Whether it's right off the bat or a year down the road, everyone is challenged at some point in their career (even the geology majors). Like anything though, if you have an interest in a subject, then pursue it. I've yet to meet a professor who doesn't explode with happiness when a student seeks more interaction with questions on classwork, their research, your research, possible internships, career advice, or whatever you chose. As far as the student body is concerned, everyone has a pet subject that they won't shut-up about when asked. My advice is to challenge yourself early in your academic career to open room as an upperclassmen to explore other fields. Note: By 'other fields' I do not meet intramural golf. I mean history for a biology major, English for a math major, or a foreign language for the economics major.

Tufts is known for its top-notch academics. Like at any school, professors will vary in their quality or availability. But overall, professors are experts in their fields and care about their students' progress. On a medium-sized campus, it is very easy to make and maintain relationships with professors. Students coming from smaller high schools have to realize that often they will need to make the effort to familiarize themselves with professors, but once that happens many professors truly do care about forming relationships with students. As always, its a two-way street. Students can find classes in whatever may interest them or, like many liberal arts students, explore different areas that are new and exciting. You can find anything from "the 1960s" to "American Sign Language" to "Mathematics of Social Choice" and everything in between. We have the Experimental College which is a truly unique and special feature of the school. The Ex College offers a variety of courses which change every semester taught by professionals from outside Tufts, Tufts faculty and even qualified upperclassmen. These courses are quirky and focused ones which attract students who are genuinely interested in them. They are amazing opportunities and really embody the Tufts notion of learning for the sake of learning. Courses can include "Producing Films for Social Change," "Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies" and "the History and Mathematics of Baseball." The Tufts faculty is comprised of world-renowned experts in their fields who have so much to share with their students (like Daniel Dennet in the Philosophy department or renowned psychologist Robert Sternberg, our Dean of Arts and Sciences). Tufts students put in a good amount time for their work, but it never takes over their lives. Coming to Tufts, it seems to many students that we have an overwhelming amount of requirements. However, these easily disappear when we learn how many courses double-count and that AP credit is very helpful. Language can seem intimidating at first when students see that there is a 6-semester language requirement (three semesters of spoken language). However, AP credit or the placement test quell any fears. As a freshman, I came to Tufts having already fulfilled 4 out of 6 semesters of Spanish.

All of my professors knew me by name and all were available to help me outside of class. The professors at Tufts are very caring and inspiring. They want students to understand the material. Class participation is very encouraged, especially in small, upper-level classes. One of my favorite professors, Steve Cohen, invited me to his home in Cambridge to have breakfast with him during reading period one year. Tufts students do not compete with one another. They compete with themselves, always pushing themselves to do better, but the academic atmosphere at Tufts is very collaborative. I was always able to reach out to my peers and ask for help with an assignment if I needed it. Also, study groups are very common. The Experimental College is one of Tufts' greatest assets. Students can register to take classes that are quirky and unique like The History of Punk Rock or Forensic Science or Psychopathology. These classes are taken for credit, many are letter-graded, but others can only be taken Pass/Fail.

The teaching at Tufts seems to be a pation as well as a carreer

Like at any other institution there is your wide range of people's intelligences. Some are brilliant students who do not even open a book and get straight As, which other burn off their eyelashes and barely get by with Bs or Cs. Depending on the class there is class participation. Normally in large lecture halls the participation is down to a minimum, but in classes with few students there is a high amount of participation. The most unique class that I have taken so far during my first two years in college was one that incorporated chemistry, biology, anthropologie, astronomy, and geology. It was taught by some great professors all pioneers in the areas that they lectured in. it is possibly the best class i could have taken at tufts so far.

Most professors do know their students and recogninse them outside the classrooms. My favorite class was International Finance... In general I like finance courses and this was one the really few to be offered by Tufts.

My professors do know my name, because my classes tend to be 20-30 people. Students study a LOT, depending on their major, and tend to be pretty competitive in the science majors. I have gone out for lunch and coffee with my professors, and in general they are great.

You get a range of class types at Tufts. In the pre-med track, some of the intro classes are large. It is difficult to get to know your professor if you do not go to office hours all the time. That said, professors always set aside ample time to meet with students and that is a great chance to get to know the professors and to stay on top of things. The one advice I would give is to always go to office hours, even if you think you understand the material. That way, you have found a potential candidate to write you a recommendation for the future.

Good professors, helpful TAs and competitive students!

Academics are great. We spend a lot of time working: if you're looking for a party school, don't come here. There's no business major, which contributes to the overall character of the student body.

This is, without doubt, the reason people (and myself) come to Tufts, The academics are stellar. The classes are interesting and the professors are, for the most part, fantastic. Even the ones I have hated I have also respected for their masterful grasp of their subject, but I have liked many more than I have disliked. The professors are also aware of the small liberal arts feel that we are coming here for, and are willing to provide. They are friendly and personable for the most part and always willing to help anyone who speaks up. The requirements are a little much, especially the language one which is notoriously a GPA bane if you aren't careful as many of the language classes are quite difficult and labor intensive. However, on the other end is the Ex-College which allows almost anything to be taught as a class for real credit. I took The Politics of Coffee that included a daily coffee tasting and lesson on connoisseurship in addition to the viability of the coffee market, fair trade laws and practices, and Brazils stance on everything coffee related.

Tufts has a panel of spectacular professors. Their dedication to undergraduate education is unique and wonderful. Unfortunately, despite the perennial dictum that students at Tufts can study anything they want, the reality is that it can be a real challenge to create your own major, even one related to existent departments.

Absolutely love love love studying at Tufts! Unless its an intro class my professors all know my name and know all about me. I absolutely love every single one of my teachers. It is way too hard to pick a favorite- but if I had to do a top five I'd pick: George Norman, Oxana Shevel, Prof. Eichenberg, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, and Paul "Khalid" Wulfsberg. Class participation is common and people always have some pretty stimulating conversations outside class. But the great combo is that kids at Tufts know how to work hard, are genuinely interested at understanding and achieving and also know how to have a life. A lot of people are involved in volunteering (our volunteering club has over 1/5th of the students in it). I've spent the most time with my Arabic professors, because they're always putting on culture nights or film dinners. The academic requirements are really easy to fulfill, sometimes at face value they seem like a lot but if you actually go through the coursebook and see the listings you can see that most of your classes fulfull the basic requirements. I feel like my time here is well spent because I'm learning a lot more than most of my friends back home- I really feel like I'm working hard, enjoying learning as well as my other activities, meeting so many interesting people. I just love Tufts- I can't say it enough.

Tufts is great because you can choose what kind of path you want to take academically: either taking bigger lecture classes or small classes with lots of professor attention. Tufts does have a lot of requirements, however. Tufts students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class, not necessarily about dry topics but just about the world in general. Some students study WAY too much and some study not at all, although overall I would say Tufts is perhaps a bit too studious of a school.

there are some amazing professors and very cool classes. professors are very understanding of life as a student. the class sizes are intimate (with the exception of intro level courses) and you get to know the other students and professors pretty well.

Tufts admissions has been getting more and more competitive, so the student body is highly intelligent. That said, it's not like everyone is dying to talk about their studies all of the time. It's actually a nice balance. I'm not saying people don't love any of their classes (this past semester I actually took a full schedule of classes I loved!), but people still know how to enjoy themselves. I do sometimes wish there was a little more intellectual coversation, though.

It's hard to describe Tufts academics broadly. i have taken some truly excellent classes at Tufts, but obviously have had some awful classes as well. In general, I have found that classes within my major, including international relations, community health, economics, and spanish have been fantastic. Even my Intro to IR class (that had close to 250 students) was interesting and enjoyable. All of my small classes have been really enjoyable. Language classes at Tufts are always capped at 16 students, and economics classes are capped as well past the intro level. The classes I have not like at Tufts have been classes I needed just to fulfill distribution requirements. I did not, for example, like my intro to philosophy class, which I took to fulfill my second english requirement. This semester I took intro to economic statistics, which was easily the worst class I've ever taken in my life. I pretty much would blame the professor for the horrible experience I had in this class, but take comfort in the fact that this was his last semester at Tufts. Overall, I think students take their classes very seriously. One of my favorite things about Tufts has been that most of my classes have been very interesting, and that the opportunities to learn more in each of those classes have been plentiful.

I took an amazing class on Postmodernism & Film which epitomized the academic experience for me. The professor was engaging and eloquent day in and day out. Professors run the gamut from boring to spectacular, just as you might find anywhere. Most of the classes I took at Tufts were small, and professors knew my name and cared about how I was doing.

I love the Tufts academics- I'm double majoring in Spanish and Community Health (CH). CH is a great major, and not every college has it! I'm also in a combined degree program- I'm taking graduate classes now (for free!) and will be able to finish my Master's of Public Health in just one year after I graduate. Tufts has a lot of combined degree programs which are great because Tufts students can take their graduate classes for free, and can apply easily to graduate school as sophomores, avoiding that stress senior year. Class size and professor depends on the department. Intro classes are usually big- 200+ students, but after taking the intro class, the other department classes are much smaller and there's more participation. Some professors know every kid's name, some never learn any. You talk to upper classmen and find out which classes are good, and which aren't so good. Also, because Tufts is relatively small, it's really easy to bend the academic rules. Last semester I designed my own independent study class and took it one-on-one with my adviser. You don't have that flexibility at bigger schools!

I have had some excellent professors at Tufts. I have also had some God awful professors here. Usually by sophomore year or so you hear who you should take classes from and who you shouldn't.

i think academics at tufts varies tremendously within departments. in economics, the faculty was so-so but in international relations, the professors were phenomenal. there is also a problem at tufts with grade deflation. there isn't anything like a forced curve, but professors make it so difficult to get an A sometimes that it is ridiculous, especially since Harvard, which already has a much bigger name, gives out grades of 'A' like crazy. it is also somewhat tough to get a job in certain industries, especially finance. the tufts name isn't big enough yet in the finance world and career services needs to focus more on that

The professors are brilliant!

I have been slightly disappointed by the professors in the Economics department. Many that I have had have been boring and hard to understand. Unfortunately I have not had the luck to take classes with quality professors that I know exist.

I have such great relationships with professors. With some I am on a first-name basis and have gone to their houses. Others are less personal, but they are equally inspiring. Of course, some are lame. Classes are generally great, but I have been in some crappy ones. Seminars are an excellent way to learn from both your professors and your classmates. Everyone does the reading and people honestly debate and sometimes persuade each other in different directions.

Academics are top-notch at Tufts. No matter what major, you are probably not going to have a light load of work, but Tufts is especially known for its international relations program, which carries with it many many stressful nights, but with a huge payoff. Its a grueling program but the international relations professors, along with most of the other professors, have huge connections outside of the Tufts bubble. Classes can either be fiercely intimate or quite spacious (my largest class has been around 150), but no matter what, professors are always available if you need help, and they WANT to get to know you. Every single one of my professors, with a very limited exception, have been extraordinarily helpful if you ever need advice, whether it be for their own class or even if you are thinking about career paths. Something that does annoy me about Tufts though is the distribution requirements that every student has to fill. Even if you are a drama major, you still have to take two math classes, and an assortment of other classes that include humanities, world civilization, english, and natural sciences. As much as it annoys me, Tufts is a school that stresses a liberal arts education, so you will leave the school having a more rounded education.

Tufts students may love to have fun on the weekends, but the focus is first and foremost on academics. It's enjoyable to be in classes full of bright engaging kids who ask questions and care about what they are learning. What I appreciate the most however is how supportive everyone is. I studied with classmates in nearly every single class, and I have yet to meet anyone who wasn't truly glad to offer help and to see everyone else succeed. It's an extremely positive work environment and in my one big lecture class of 40 kids this year I learned more from my friends than from my teacher. My average class size this year was about 14 kids per class and I especially got to know my german professors really well. I've found that if you take the first step and reach out to your teacher, they will always respond and become a great friend and mentor.

Academics at Tufts has a lot of negatives with some sporadic positives thrown in. In small classes characterized by an intimate atmosphere, professors tend to know your name. However, in large lecture classes, it is the complete opposite. My favorite class was Dante's Inferno, which was a small class taught by a brilliant professor who knows any and everything there is to know about Dante Alighieri the poet. I HATE THE BIOLOGY DEPT. AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY...it ruins lives. Class participation is fairly common. Be prepared to share your ideas and thoughts, even if you know very little about the subject matter at hand. I am a biological-psychology students, which basically means I take half of my required courses in Bio and half in psych, and all classes deal with neurobiology. I rarely spend time with my professors outside of class unless I attend office hours or review sessions. Students at Tufts are incredibly competitive which, as a freshman in a challenging class can be very intimidating. Professors are very knowledgeable intellectuals, but often they are unable to portray their knowledge to students in an efficient way. Education is geared toward learning for its own sake rather than getting a job.

I love my classes. Professors are wonderful - some great, some not as great, just like everywhere else. I personally love how available the teachers are outside of the classroom. They love working one-on-one and helping students.