Though The Wall Street Journal omitted Tufts from its list of "New Ivies," the University has received high marks in other magazines that rank American colleges and universities.
<I>The Princeton Review recently released a revised version of its guide, The Best 331 Colleges, and Tufts received high rankings in an array of student life and academic categories. But The Wall St. Journal's March 30 edition featured an article called "The New Safeties," which excluded Tufts from a list of schools the Journal considers to be "New Ivies."
The Journal article was meant to showcase "schools that were new to the level of national attention," according to its author, Elizabeth Bernstein. The institutions featured were those that used to be considered safety schools for Ivy-league hopefuls and are now increasingly difficult to get into.
"In startling numbers, kids who only a few years ago had a fighting chance for the Ivies aren't even getting wait-listed at what used to be considered second-tier schools," reads the article.
These second-tier schools, dubbed the "New Ivies" by the Journal, were Williams College, Pomona College, Duke University, Georgetown University, John Hopkins University, New York University, University of Notre Dame, Vassar College, Swarthmore College, and Northwestern. Tufts was excluded from the list of rising premier schools, although its acceptance rate last year was lower than seven of the ten schools listed.
The reason Tufts was left out, Bernstein said, is that it has been in the national spotlight for quite some time and is not considered a "rising star" like the other schools.
"What we really did was talk to dozens of guidance counselors, students, and parents, to find out what their opinions were," Bernstein said. Tufts "came up as having always been at that level."
While The Wall Street Journal article failed to mention Tufts' prominence, The Princeton Review recently released a set of rankings that speaks highly of the University.
The guide starts from the premise that all 331 schools listed are high-quality schools with quality educational programs. The Princeton Review then surveys thousands of college students, and, based on their feedback, compiles rankings in 64 categories ranging from which school has the best professors, and which the best parties.
Tufts placed among the top 20 schools in the nation in nine categories, including number two in "things to do on campus," number three in the percentage of students who say their professors "bring material to life," number eight in "professors make themselves available," and number nine in general student happiness. The two negative aspects of life at Tufts were "town-gown relations are strained" and "little class/race interaction," in which Tufts ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. Academic-wise, Tufts scored an 89 out of 100.
Mary Beth Kravets, president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and a guidance counselor at a suburban Chicago public high school, said that Tufts is viewed as a prestigious school by high school students across the country.
Tufts "has a very good reputation and kids would love to go there, but they know they're competing for very few spots," she said. "Whether it's Cleveland, Chicago, or Madison, it doesn't matter. It's very hard for these students to compete for spots."
Indeed, the Review rated Tufts "Mega Selective" and gave it a 96 out of 100 selectivity rating. Tufts acceptance rate dropped to 20 percent this year, continuing the trend of declining admission rates that has been evident across the country for the past few years. Faced with soaring numbers of college-bound high school students, many traditionally less-selective schools are raising their standards and accepting higher-caliber students, and traditionally selective schools are becoming ultra-selective.
"There's a trickle-down effect," Kravets said. "What used to be safety now becomes harder to get into. Even with the state schools, they all increased their admissions criteria this year."
Nevertheless, the NACAC warns parents and students not to put too much faith in "best of" lists and college rankings. These lists, the website reports, "are often the result of questionable research."
The Tufts Admissions Office also cautions prospective students against relying solely on rankings to reveal the characteristics of a school. Dean of Admissions David Cuttino said he is concerned that surveys are often unable to accurately reflect the quality of an institution.
The NACAC website argues that the lists are not always based on relevant indicators. One factor that can be skewed is reliance on the average class rank that schools are able to recruit. Colleges that draw from lesser-quality high schools will only accept the top-ranked students, while colleges that draw from competitive high schools will accept more students outside the top ten percent, making them appear to have a less-qualified student body.
"There is a changing landscape of colleges out there. I think students have
a good handle on it... but I don't think parents do. I think they look back to schools they would have like to have gone to," said Bernstein. "Our message is that there are a lot of good schools out there."
