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.