Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you? My face was sore from grinning by the time I arrived at the hectic student parking lot. I had just driven myself to school for the first time, and I could hardly pry myself out of the driver’s seat. It seems odd that back-pain inducing, disintegrating foam covered in a worn, out-of-style fabric could grant...

Which aspects of Tufts’ curriculum or undergraduate experience prompt your application? In short: “Why Tufts?” (Required length is 50-100 words) I crave stimulating conversations and personal relationships, and after three visits, I am nearly certain that that is what I’ll encounter at Tufts. When I signed up to sit in on a political theory ​class, I had no idea what to expect, but I found myself enthralled, listening to fifteen freshmen discuss Rousseau's natural state of man, with each...

E. Nelson Mandela believed that “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Describe a way in which you have made or hope to make a difference. The inequality proliferated by our country's education system outrages me. School budgets tied to property taxes result in astonishing disparity from one town to another, and...

There is a Quaker saying: “Let your life speak.” Describe the environment in which you were raised—your family, home, neighborhood or community—and how it influenced the person you are today. (Required length is 200-250 words) My parents exist on opposite sides of the cognitive spectrum. My father takes a very pragmatic approach towards life and rarely gets emotional over a topic. He is the craftsman that helped me build a skateboard and the technician that can fix my...

It's not hard to find a million well-rounded students. Schools want a well rounded student body that they can tell cute stories about on their admission blogs. You don't need to be a prodigy...