Tufts is a highly-respected, and highly-competitive university just outside of Boston, one of the most iconic ‘college towns’ in the world. Tufts does not publish their Early Decision-specific acceptance rate or include it in their filings, either. However, the overall acceptance rate is a mere 10%, and they receive over 30,000 applications annually. In this post, we’re going to break down how to increase your chances of acceptance by Tufts, and through the Early Decision II application option in particular. First, though, let’s look at what applying Early Decision offers you, an applicant, at Tufts. 

Applying ED is a good decision if you want to get into a particular school. However, that idea that applying Early Decision gives applicants a major boost is a bit of a myth at Tufts. Like most competitive colleges, the Tufts Early Decision I and II pools are packed full of students who practically know that they are going to get in before they hit submit. This includes recruited athletes, children of Tufts employees, and others whose applications have been flagged for special consideration. This doesn’t necessarily hurt you if you are applying ED II, but it does mean that the perceived boost isn’t as big as it may appear.

When reviewing Early Decision application, Tufts doesn’t look for anything different in the early applications than they look for in Regular Decision applications. But early applicants are the beneficiaries of a benefit thanks to the ED commitment. Basically, since you’ve given them a promise to attend if accepted, they are more likely to look upon your application favorably.  

There is another benefit to applying in either ED round, too. Whether you apply EDI or EDII, your application is being read before the mountains of Regular Decision applications. So, the application readers aren’t worried about whether they have space left yet in the next first-year class. , you just have to convince them to fill it with you. 

Next, we’re going to break down the pieces of the Tufts application that are especially important for you to knock out of the park if you want to be admitted ED II.

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As we’ve said, applying ED II doesn’t make getting into Tufts easy, but it does make it easier if you also have the grades and scores to be a competitive applicant. After checking those boxes, it really comes down to the writing. But how do you write supplements that make a difference for your application? This is how you do it.

THE SUPPLEMENT

Please complete the following statement: "I am applying to Tufts because..." (50-100 words)

This is a great prompt, and a concise prompt. The limit, 50-100 words, is only 2-4 sentences. That is very little space, and you need to stand out without a lot of room. So how do you do it? Specificity and story. First, you need to be specific. Wanting to study a particular subject isn’t specific, unless Tufts is the only school in the country that offers it. By ‘specific’ we mean zooming in close on what Tufts offers, especially in academics. For the purpose of this prompt, it may be a particular research program, professor (but make sure they teach undergraduate classes), experiential learning opportunity, or lab. Then, you want story. Story is how you connect yourself as an applicant to that specific thing that you’ve decided to focus on. For some students, the story is about an experience you’ve already had with Tufts or through another learning opportunity that connects to the program or person you’re highlighting. For other students, the story is about something that led you to the subject you want to study — which could have taken place in the classroom, or far beyond it.

“But where would I write about the landscaping or the sports culture or other fun stuff?”, you may be asking. Not here, and most likely not anywhere else in the Tufts application. They care that you want to be part of their community socially, but that isn’t a compelling reason for why they should let you in. Instead, focus on what is truly unique to Tufts academically and how it meshes with your deepest interests and strongest passions.

Please use one of the short-answer prompts below to tell us more about yourself, your interests, and your experiences.  We care about the ways in which your interests and experiences will contribute to the Tufts community. Pick one of the following (200-250 words):

Next up, you have a few options for a longer Tufts-specific essay. They offer three options for response, and we’re going to break them down. They are all good prompts. However, that doesn’t mean that they are all good for you. So, let’s break each of them down so you can find the prompt that is your perfect fit.

It’s cool to love learning. What excites your intellectual curiosity, and why?

We love this prompt because it offers an opportunity to share your passion and excitement, and to excite the application reader alongside you. If you select it, however, you do want to be careful to not have your response appear redundant when read immediately after your short answer above. It can focus on the same big ideas or themes, but will find strength through, again, specificity. We like to use octopuses as an example not because we know a lot about octopuses, but because they are cool.

So, if you get absurdly excited about octopuses, even if you don’t want to study science, you could answer this prompt by sharing something super exciting about octopuses that links, in some way, to your interests. For example, Octopuses have arms that can operate independently of each other, and that even seem to have individual personalities. Like one arm may be shy, and the other is a bit of a risk taker. If you were to be obsessed with octopuses and want to study psychology, this is a perfect hook. What is the self if you have many selves? And how could this idea influence our understanding of the human self.

Chances are that your thing isn’t octopuses, but you undoubtedly have a thing. Whether it’s an animal, a product category, or an idea, there is something you find fascinating that you can link to your prospective area of study and communicate in a way that gets the application reader as excited as you are.

How have the environments or experiences of your upbringing — your family, home, neighborhood, or community — shaped the person you are today?

This prompt is Tufts way of opening the door for the types of answers they can’t ask for outright anymore (i.e., things regarding race or similar personal identity factors). But it isn’t just about race, and this prompt isn’t only for students who identify as a minority in some way. However, it’s worth noting that much of the time whatever you would write about here would have some up already in your main college essay. Redundancy is not your friend, so if your strongest answer for this prompt is something you’ve already written about, pick a different prompt.

But if there is something you haven’t written about yet that fits within this prompt, it may be your moment. Remember, though, that you can’t count on pity. Making them feel bad for you won’t inspire them to let you in. Inspiring them, though, will. Showing them your past, present, and future, will. Focusing on resiliency, determination, and drive, will. So do that.

Using a specific example or two, tell us about a way that you contributed to building a collaborative and/or inclusive community.

This is another great prompt, so Tufts has really come with a set of aces. They make it hard to pick! This is another prompt where you may have already written about what would go best here. As above, don’t be redundant. You need to offer something new with each piece of writing Tufts will read. But if there is a meaningful and long-term way that you have contributed to your community, tell that story here. “long-term” is the key. Don’t write about going somewhere far away and doing something short-term. Anything written about here must be close to home, and be something you’ve been involved in for more than 6 months before you submit the application.

As you write, hold yourself back from the impulse to sacrifice seriousness in order to make an impact. Don’t try to stand out by being gratuitously weird, or by picking a major or minor that simply doesn’t make sense based on what you’ve prioritized as a student. To be more specific, don’t select an interest in archaeology if you have never done anything that aligns with that at all. Your strongest chance of getting in relies on your expressed academic interests aligning with your proven academic strengths and extracurricular choices.

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