How to Write the Tufts University Essays

This short essay is a classic “Why this school?” essay. It should highlight your knowledge of the unique opportunities at Tufts and your own special interests and perspectives. Start by conducting some in-depth research on Tufts’ website in order to find academic programs, research opportunities, extracurricular activities and student groups, and unique aspects of student life that interest you. Focus on linking your past experiences and passions to your plans for making the most of your potential time at Tufts.

For example, if you’re a high school senior who is interested in global politics, involved in Model UN, and aspires to become a diplomat, you should refer to these specific aspects of your profile and write about the resources at Tufts that will help you reach your professional goals. You might mention how Tufts’ 1+4 Bridge Year Program will broaden your perspectives on global issues and service learning, or discuss how you could complement your International Relations major with Tufts’ Peace and Justice Studies minor. If you have any other special connections to Tufts—whether a campus visit and tour or a friend or sibling who attended Tufts and raved about any special features of its academic or student culture–these details may also find their way into your essay.

I am applying to Tufts because I flourish when surrounded by inspiration. John Wong, David Kaplan, Andrew Levey—all world-renowned professors in medicinal practice who could serve as my instructors or mentors. The Centers for Cognitive Studies and STEM Diversity, which will ground my studies in practical research. Clubs like Doctors Without Borders, TEMS, and Project SHARE, where I can make life-long friends while still working to improve the lives of others. At Tufts, I barely have to turn my head to find a community of driven, collaborative minds who will help propel my academic and personal journey forward.

With this prompt, Tufts’ admissions committee is inviting you to “nerd out.” More specifically, this essay should allow the reader to actually sense your excitement for a specific subject or to understand a foundational academic experience that provided the spark for your continued studies in college. For the former, try to hone in on a particular unique interest within your intended field(s) of study. Instead of writing about how much you enjoy reading, for example, you can distinguish yourself from other prospective English majors by writing about your love of the 17th-century Metaphysical poets, the short story that turned you into an aspiring novelist, or how you noticed that the TV series Dickinson’s cinematography parallels the mood of some of Emily Dickinson’s poems. Alternatively, if you’ve had an educational experience that was particularly powerful, such as an immersive Mock Trial program, attending an intensive academic summer camp, or conducting research in a lab, you could write about how the experience influenced you and shaped your passions and goals.

Since I was little, I always dreamed of being a mermaid. The tail, the salt-blown hair, the limitless number of marine friends; could life get any better? In fact, I was so committed to this career path that by the age of eight, I was already conducting my own experiments to showcase my aquatic abilities. At the beach, I’d dig my hands into the smooth, wet sand and furrow my brows as I manipulated incoming waves with my mind. At the pool, I diligently trained my lung capacity to prepare for life beneath the waves. (I could hold my breath for more than two minutes!)

Flash-forward nine years, and I still long to be one with the water. However, the experiments on sandy shoals have since relocated to muddy estuaries, where I spend my weekends collecting brackish water samples and shipping them off for testing in a local lab. I may not have a tail, but my work uniform does include a pretty snazzy fishing bib. I even found my long-lost marine friends in the form of fish, frogs, and crabs. Some may consider this a downgrade from my previous aspiration, but I feel at home wading along the silty shores. Not just hearing about nature, but touching it, smelling it, tasting it; these are the moments that tell me I’m headed down the right path. So despite the minor adjustments, I can confidently say that I’m living up to my childhood dreams.

This prompt asks you to reflect on the world you come from and how your background has shaped your worldview. Rather than listing communities that you are a part of, hone in on one and illustrate its impact through a specific anecdote. As you share how this environment or experience shaped you, it is important to think about and clearly express your unique perspective and what you can bring to campus that no one else can. This may be related to a geographic identity, a religious community, a unique intersection of identities that you occupy, a family background, a place of work, a school you attend or have attended, or any other environment that has been meaningful to you. What are the life lessons you’ve gleaned from growing up in your particular neighborhood, or in your particular family? What are the most important communities you are a part of, and how have they shaped your values? What will you contribute to Tufts’ campus community as a result?

The job of the Tufts admissions committee is to build an academic community, and in this example of what we call the “community” essay, they want to understand what kind of value-add you would be to that community. Because they are asking you for specific examples, this essay should take the form of an anecdote where you specifically describe a time when you helped bring people together for a common goal and/or found ways to unite people who were previously divided. A successful essay would demonstrate not only your ability to work well with others but also shed some light on what you believe the value of collaboration or inclusivity to be. In brainstorming your essay, start by thinking through an instance in which you were working towards something and reliant on the work of others to get it done—you can’t collaborate or be inclusive if you’re all by yourself! What did that experience teach you about finding common ground with others or about the perspective of another individual or group of people?

Here, the admissions committee is trying to get a better understanding of what motivates you as a creator. Specifically, they want to see you to go beyond mere style and technique and instead focus on the themes and issues that inspire you the most. This question can be challenging because a single artist can be inspired by countless ideas. But rather than rattling off all the topics that you’re interested in, pick one to focus on and explain why it motivates you to create. For example, a student who enjoys both cartoon sketches and politics could discuss their desire to explore visual art as a form of satire, allowing them to bring a light-hearted tone to controversial issues while still being informative. Alternatively, a film student might explain their interest in neurological behavior and how they want to explore filmmakers’ use of scoring and lighting to influence viewers’ physiological responses to a movie. The most critical element here is to demonstrate enthusiasm for a complex idea and then link that idea to your current and future artwork.

Blanc.

The word turns in my head as I squint at the mounted rectangle before me.

Blanche?

My monosyllabic thoughts are cut short by my teacher, who shoos our class away to another section of the exhibit. We had spent the past ten minutes staring at a blank canvas. A canvas covered in white paint—yes. But it was still bare, and somehow, we were expected to interpret this empty void.

The exercise stemmed from one of our assigned readings: Yasmina Reza’s L’Art, a comedic play about in-fighting amongst friends after one purchases a white painting. It was certainly entertaining, but I still couldn’t understand: how could a blank painting have inspired this internationally-acclaimed piece of theater?

That question has since become the foundation of my artistic inspiration. I now recognize that the white painting was never meant to be understood in isolation. It was a challenge to the art community to explore its meaning through alternative mediums. L’Art did exactly that, offering context to the painting by redefining it through literature and performance. Since I came to this realization, I’ve begun photographing people’s reactions to different art forms, including paintings, architecture, and live shows. With each photo, the added human element forces our interpretation of art to be more empathetic, more collaborative. Indeed, it expands artistic consumption to include the thoughts and feelings of our communities. Capturing art through another perspective strikes the balance between transformation and novel creation, a process I hope to continue exploring in my future pieces.