Should I mention SO situation?

[smilesoup]

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On the Tufts application, we have to put down around 100 words on why we want to go to Tufts. Tufts has been my number 1 choice for many years; I love the school and people who work there, have worked in their amazing wildlife clinic for a summer, and I adore North Grafton 🙂 I'm also planning to be married next summer, and my boyfriend lives in Boston, which has made the stakes really high in terms of getting into Tufts. Would it detract in any way from my desire to go to vet school if I mention that a huge reason I'd like to be accepted is that I'd like to live in the same state as my husband? Haha, it sounds weird when I put it that way, but what do you guys think? Thanks!

 

[canis13]

i'd say with 50-100 words, you really should use those words to talk about loving the school, the people who work there, and their amazing wildlife clinic rather than your husband. i mean, it seems pretty unfair to give preference to someone because they're getting married to someone who lives in boston, and my guess is that the admissions committee at tufts feels similarly and will not take that into consideration in their admissions decision. so i think you would be wasting space on your 100 words.

 

[New Foundland]

agreed with canis. there's no sympathy credit from adcoms. if anything you'd lose a tiny bit of credibility for mentioning it.
it might mean a lot to you, understandably.. but to a seasoned adcom who's heard it all, it probably sounds no different than somebody saying "i'm a huge redsox fan, and i'd like to be able to attend a lot of their home games" 🙁

good luck

 

[pennyonthefloor]

Yeah... though they may see it as positive that you would have a social/emotional connection out there, I'd stay away from it. Just remember, the admissions board wants to see that you want to go to their school for an academic/professional reason not simply to be geographically closer to loved ones...

 

[ambulocetus]

IMHO: while you are short on space for the written part, you may want to focus more on aspects of the program that really draw you to the Tufts curriculum. If you have a lot of space left, then maybe a one liner wouldn't hurt...

However, if it comes to interview...then that is a different story. Remember lots of schools offer lots of places, and they also get a lot of rejections too - Are you more of an attractive offer if you appear "pre-committed" to that school? - i would say yes you are. So in a sense that does make you a better candidate in their eyes. The more likely a candidate is to say yes, then the easier it is for the admissions committee come April 14th. Just a thought.

 

[StartingoverVet]

IMHO: while you are short on space for the written part, you may want to focus more on aspects of the program that really draw you to the Tufts curriculum. If you have a lot of space left, then maybe a one liner wouldn't hurt...

However, if it comes to interview...then that is a different story. Remember lots of schools offer lots of places, and they also get a lot of rejections too - Are you more of an attractive offer if you appear "pre-committed" to that school? - i would say yes you are. So in a sense that does make you a better candidate in their eyes. The more likely a candidate is to say yes, then the easier it is for the admissions committee come April 14th. Just a thought.

I agree. I spent more than a small portion of my Penn and Tufts interviews talking about my wife and how Philly/Boston suited her goals as well. Couldn't have hurt as I got accepted at both places.

 

[sumstorm]

One concern; what happens if your spouse/SO is relocated at some point? Life happens, and several folks in my class (inlcuding me) are dealing with spouses being relocated. If you mention that as a reason for Tufts...why wouldn't it also be a reason to discontinue Tufts (and I know of a handful of transfers who applied for transfer to be with spouses, so it isn't that unrealistic)? please note, I am not saying that it would be even if your SO did have to relocate....but it can considered in that light by an adcom.

I personally would stick to the professional interests.

 

[nyanko]

As stupid and misguided as I may think the idea is, I would venture to guess that a woman has more to lose than a man when considering mentioning relationship issues as a motivator to attend a certain school. So be cognizant of possible (even unintentional) biases by the adcoms in that regard as well.

 

[StartingoverVet]

As stupid and misguided as I may think the idea is, I would venture to guess that a woman has more to lose than a man when considering mentioning relationship issues as a motivator to attend a certain school. So be cognizant of possible (even unintentional) biases by the adcoms in that regard as well.

Unfortunately I do think you are right on that one. Good point.

 

[deleted266066]

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[sumstorm]

As stupid and misguided as I may think the idea is, I would venture to guess that a woman has more to lose than a man when considering mentioning relationship issues as a motivator to attend a certain school. So be cognizant of possible (even unintentional) biases by the adcoms in that regard as well.

I really should start noting where I read things....last year I read two studies on sex differences in interviews. Both were observational studies; interviewer and interviewees were trained actors/actresses in a room with a one way window. Study subjects were observers watching the interaction.

In the first study there were 4 categories of interviewees; married female, married male, single female, single male. Lots of interviewees and a couple different groups of observers. Interviews were short (<10min) and the interviewees were paired (ie gave the same behavioral cues and answers) across the sexes and across the marital status (ie a single woman's responses were the same as at least one other married woman's responses to a married man's responses to a single man's responses.) The only difference being sex and marital status, appearance, answers, behaviors controlled for. The conclusions included the audience members scoring reliability and long term dedication to the position offered (which wasn't defined) and it went married men > single woman = single man > married woman. In the open answer portion, the reasons stated were thinkgs like the married man had to take care of his family [by earning income] and the married woman had to take care of her family [tending kids, supporting husband.] Was interesting. In a similar study, the actors and actresses were trained to display certain behaviors. What was classifed as leadership in men was construed as manipulativeness and witchiness in the woman.

Much to my annoyance.

 

[bullfrogab]

I would not mention that you want to go to Tufts so you can be close to your husband. They want to know why you want to attend they're specific program, and there are hundreds of applicants that want TUFTS becuase of some of their unique programs, so using 20/100 words to say you want to be there because of your husband, I believe will hurt you. In some ways, it could make a school think you are settling for their school or finding aspects of their school that you like just so that you can be close to your spouse. You may want to bring it up in an interview while talking about yourself, but I would wait until that point.

 

[OneDay81]

What was classifed as leadership in men was construed as manipulativeness and witchiness in the woman.

Much to my annoyance.

I witness this on a daily basis, unfortunately. Interesting study.