Tufts combines the close-knit community of a liberal arts school with the powerhouse academics of a major research university. They have four campuses, including rural, suburban, and urban settings, all around — or in — Boston. Across Tufts, there are 460 student organizations and clubs, and over 150 majors and minors. Nearly no matter what you want to study, from the humanities to the hard sciences, Tufts doesn’t just have a program — they have one of the best.
Tufts accepted 10.5% of applicants for the Class of 2029, a slight increase over the most recent previous years. Don’t take this as a sign of an acceptance rate on the rise, though. Rather, it is a recalibration of the scales following the pandemic surges and dips. They received 33,400 applications, and over 7,700 applicants were first in their family to go to college. Tufts paid special attention to accepting students who were first-generation college students, students from small towns and rural areas, and students from Tufts “host community” areas, or those towns surrounding the Tufts campus.
The university is test optional for all undergraduate applicants, meaning that you are not required to submit an ACT or SAT score. However, Tufts emphasizes that SAT and ACT scores can aid them in assessing if a student is ready for college. They encourage students “with scores of 1300 or higher on the SAT, or 28 or higher on the ACT” to submit their scores. If you don’t submit, they say that they do not assume that your scores are below those thresholds, but we advise our students that it doesn’t look great, either. And remember that Tufts does super score, so they take the highest score for each section.
In this post, we’re going to give you a peek behind the curtain of how we work with our students to write exceptional supplemental essays for their Tufts applications, from picking which prompt to respond to all of the way to how a supplement should end.
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When students approach supplements on their own, they tend to play it safe. They answer the question, but lack a creative approach. When it comes to Tufts, this is a problem. Tufts doesn’t simply want clear responses to their creative prompts. They want answers that are, well, all you. “Take a risk,” they say, and go somewhere unexpected. Be serious if the moment calls for it, but feel comfortable being playful if that suits you, too.”
The questions for the Tufts application are school-specific, so we’ve broken them down below by school as well. Now, let’s get into them.
Applicants to the School of Arts & Sciences or the School of Engineering:
Please respond to one of the following three prompts in 200-250 words:
It’s cool to love learning. What excites your intellectual curiosity and why?
First off, and this applies to all of the prompts, remember the 200-250 words is quite short. For illustration, the first three paragraphs of this post are over 280 words combined — or too long to respond to this supplement. Now to the prompt.
We love this prompt because it invites you to do exactly what Tufts asks for. You must get creative and write in an immersive way to produce a strong response to this prompt.
This means starting your answer by immersing the reader in a moment. Write a scene, or a highly visual mini-story, that drops the reader right into something that you find intellectually exciting. This is typically an experience outside of the classroom that links to your academic interests. For example, maybe you are on public transit watching the subtle interactions between passengers, or perhaps you are walking your dog, observing the natural world around you. Whatever it is, this should be a strong image with a ‘hook’ story that gives you an opening to share your why. Give your why, but keep this why big picture. There is a prompt at the end of this supplement, and which is required of everyone, where you can focus on your prospective major and what you want to do at Tufts. This supplement isn’t about Tufts, it’s about how you think and what makes you excited about learning.
How have the environments or experiences of your upbringing – your family, home, neighborhood, or community – shaped the person you are today?
This supplement offers students from minority backgrounds or communities to spotlight that piece of themselves, but those aren’t the only students who should consider picking this prompt.
Like the previous prompt, you need to immerse the reader in your experiences and, for this one in particular, what has shaped you. Focus on one thing, an aspect of your family, like living in a multigenerational household, a facet of your neighborhood, like growing up in a super rural area, or a part of your community, like working at a local amusement park in the summers, and use that as a frame for your story. Remember, though, that you are what makes your experiences and background interesting. Simply writing about an interesting background does not actually make for a strong supplement. The essay will be interesting, for sure, but remember that the point here isn’t simply to entertain. You need to tell Tufts admissions something about you that they wouldn’t know otherwise.
Using a specific example or two, tell us about a way that you contributed to building a collaborative and/or inclusive community.
While the prompt allows for two examples, we highly recommend choosing only one to center your supplement on if you select this prompt. And it is a good prompt! Pick something you’ve included in your activity supplement, but not written about elsewhere in your application. Second, make sure that what you pick doesn’t put you at the top of a power pyramid. We want to see you write the story of collaborating in building a collaborative community. Basically, double down on collaboration.
And, like any of these supplements, you need to tell a story. Don’t just describe what you have done to build a collaborative or inclusive community. Instead, tell a specific story that highlights the things you have done through a specific anecdote. For example, if you manage a tutoring network at school, drop the reader into a conversation with your peers planning for an amazing year or navigating a sticky situation. Show how you are working together, and how you, specifically, are making sure that other’s voices are being heard. In this supplement, it is very easy for the writer to end up in a false “hero” position that doesn’t reflect well, even if it sounds fancy. Keep this in mind, and in check, as you are drafting.
Applicants to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts:
Please respond to the following prompt in 200-250 words:
Art has the power to disrupt our preconceptions, shape public discourse, and imagine new ways of being in the world. What are the ideas you’d like to explore in your work?
This prompt is BIG. So, we advise our students to zoom in significantly. Students who working with us on an SMFA application start by mapping out what inspires them and what ideas they like to address in their work. Do this by listing them on paper, and then drawing (literally) connections between ideas that are linked. Then, pick a specific piece of art that you’ve created, but that isn’t included in your portfolio, and use that piece as the frame through which to explore the ideas that matter most to you. In this answer, you will want to keep powerful visuals front and center. Your work is what will get you into Tufts, and it’s your most powerful tool in writing this supplement. Showing that you can write the visual and narrativize your work for application readers underlines that you aren’t simply a great artist, but also a thinker ready for the rigor of the Tufts SMFA program.
In addition, we will ask all applicants to complete this sentence in 250 words or less:
“I am applying to Tufts because…”
This supplement is for all applicants, and it’s a classic “why us.” Remember, though, that Tufts wants to see more than simply a cut-and-dry outline of what you intend on doing at Tufts. So, how do you do this? Start by doing some research. Research to identify your prospective major, a professor you hope to study under, two courses you would like to take, and a potential minor. You should also identify at least one club that you would like to join and one tradition at Tufts that you are particular excited about. Don’t just list these out, though.
Rather, start by finishing the sentence by focusing on a specific facet of the Tufts community that makes it your perfect fit. Then, expand out from there, going into the academic and social aspects of Tufts that build on this initial community hook.
As you are writing the Tufts application, always remember what they are looking for. They have plenty of applicants who have perfect grades and scores — far more than they can accept, in fact — what breaks through the noise of academic perfect and makes an applicant stand out is having a strong point of view, a deep passion, and enthusiasm for the type of experience that Tufts offers.
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