APPLICATION ADVICE

What do we mean by “deeper”?

The early stage of college research—we’ll call this “level 1”—is largely about narrowing down your options based on broad characteristics or “t factors.” At this stage, you’re probably asking yourself some general questions to lter potential colleges in or out: Do I want a big or small school? Do I want to study close to home or far away? Does school X offer my intended area of study? The trick is—once you’ve identied a list of potential colleges that meet these criteria, whether it’s ve or fty—to keep researching. This means engaging in some “level 2” research. We’ll explain what that looks like, but rst…

Why does deeper research matter?

1. You should feel condent that the colleges to which you apply are institutions where you feel you could be happy for 4+ years. Thorough research, especially if you are not able to visit campuses, will help you gain that sense of condence.

2. When you apply, colleges may ask you to articulate what you like about them. You may find yourself writing more than a few “Why (blank) university?” supplemental essays and answering a handful of “So why have you applied here?” questions in admissions interviews. Engaging in deeper research will prepare you with meaningful details with which to respond to these questions about a particular college. Let’s consider some examples:

> Say you’re looking for a college environment that promotes small, discussion-based seminars lled with intellectual discourse and studentfaculty connections. In a “Why Tufts?” essay, you might write, “I’m excited about Tufts’ 9:1 studentto-faculty ratio because I value active participation in my classes.” Nothing wrong there. But let’s imagine you wrote, “I was inspired to read about

Elyssa Anneser’s experience in Professor

Schildkraut’s American Politics class in JUMBO

Magazine. Elyssa’s account of her classmates’ discussion after the 2016 presidential election and Professor Schildkraut’s description of her lasting relationships with those students illustrate the active engagement in Tufts’ classrooms.”

A bit better, right?

> Perhaps you’re seeking an inclusive campus community where you will feel your identities are supported. In a “Why Tufts?” essay, you might write, “I’m excited about Tufts’ diverse student body and cultural organizations.” Nothing wrong there, but let’s try: “I’ve loved reading Kella Merlain-Moffatt’s blog posts about her experiences with Tufts’ Africana Center, which she describes as a place of comfort when she wanted to laugh, cry, or ‘bask in the joy that exists in being Black and a Jumbo.’”

Including additional details in these responses creates a more vivid picture of not only what appeals to you about a particular college, but also how you came to that conclusion.

So, where do I look?

For deeper research on location:

> Setting probably matters a lot to you as you consider t, but how do we move beyond the characteristics of urban/suburban/rural or close to home/across the country/across the world? Geographic t also includes practical factors like how accessible it will be to travel home for extended breaks and how easy it will be to nd a place for a haircut. Here’s where Google

Maps comes in: search for a school’s location to learn more about the layout of the campus, the commercial vs. residential make-up of the surrounding community (shout-out to Davis

Square), and the distance to a train/bus station or an airport. Next, check out Yelp or another business review platform to learn about the amenities and services that are accessible from campus; this might range from hiking trails to pharmacies, from vintage thrift stores to an onsite dairy bar. Setting is also about “sense of place.” How connected is the college community to the surrounding communities? What is the college’s relationship to the history of its land?

What has the college put in place to ensure mutually-enriching relationships with its neighbors? Search “service” or “volunteer” on a college’s website and spend a little time reading about how current students contribute to the local community. Checking out local media sources will also give you an unltered sense of community members’ perspectives on their college/university neighbor.

For deeper research on campus culture:

> The vibe of a college is a pretty abstract, imperfect metric, because college campuses are ultimately created from a community of individuals with distinct personalities, values, and identities. Still, we encourage you to investigate whether there are unifying similarities. This means engaging with real people as best you can (in person, via email, and by reading/listening to their stories online and in print). When asked, how do the students describe their peers? Ambitious, focused, driven? Generous, collaborative, kind? Curious, nerdy, eager to learn? Service-minded, politically engaged, activist-y? Athletic? Artistic? Entrepreneurial? First, immerse yourself in student-produced content. Watch YouTube videos, follow social media accounts for clubs or organizations you might want to join, and read student blogs compiled by admissions ofces (like Tufts’ Jumbo Talk). Pay attention to the patterns you see. Second, don’t hesitate to correspond with current students. Admissions ofcers can be a source of contact information for current students with a particular major or background, and social media accounts and websites for campus organizations will often list student contact information. Sending a professional email with a few questions about the campus community can help you gain an authentic perspective.

For deeper research on intellectual experiences:

> College websites have A LOT of information. If you’re looking to do some research into the academic offerings, pre-professional advising, and degree requirements to be sure that the classroom experience aligns with your goals, it’s likely that those details are outlined on departmental websites. Reading through class descriptions in the course catalog (often publicly available online!) and reviewing titles of recent student research projects (like the work of Tufts’ Summer

Scholars) can help you assess whether the academic experiences at a college resonate with your intellectual goals. Search through a college’s

Career Center website if you’re interested in recent internships students have completed or popular post-graduate destinations.

Often the information you’re looking for is published; you just have to dig a little deeper than the homepage. For your sake, we hope you’ll take the extra time to engage with the experiences of current college students. Their stories will enrich your understanding of what intellectual and social life are like at each college, creating a more full picture of a college’s community than any statistic or search engine can provide.