My parents had been waiting all year for the"good" New England weather to take me on college tours. DuringApril vacation we finally picked a day to visit Tufts University inMedford. To my parent's dismay, it turned out to be as windy as a beachduring a storm, and the temperature was just above freezing. So much fordepending on New England weather! Anyway, I was not too thrilled aboutwalking from building to building trying to avoid frostbite. However, wedecided to walk around campus, despite the badweather.

Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Tufts. Thecampus is relatively small, and any time we started getting cold, therewas another heated building to tour. Most impressive was the recentlyexpanded library. It seemed as if the volumes of books and periodicalswent on forever.

Another aspect that caught my attention was theart studio. Some of the art was beautiful. I may not be the world'sgreatest art critic, but I really liked what I saw. The studio seemed tobe more like a professional artist's museum/gallery than a college artexhibition hall.

Overall, I found a friendly atmosphere at Tufts(something about which I was apprehensive). My family had troublefinding the bookstore and one of the students walking around campus wasquick to give us directions. Even though Tufts is known to be one of themost competitive schools in the country, I did not get the impressionthat the students were snobs in any way.

My basic advice toanyone considering schools is that a visit can make all the differencein the world. Any school can look great on paper. It takes a trulyimpressive school to convince the student to apply once he or she hastoured the actual campus.


Reviewed in 1998