Transferring to Tufts: your chances, deadlines and credits
Transfer acceptance rate: 10.9%
Transfer acceptance rate
Source: Official school data report, section D, 2025-2026
For fall 2025, Tufts admitted 178 of 1,631 transfer applicants (10.9%).
Checked November 9, 2026. Very few transfer seats
- Fall 2027 deadline
- Mar 15, 2027Source, 2026-2027
- SAT or ACT
- OptionalSource, 2026-2027
- Recommendation letters
- RequiredSource, 2026-2027
- Interview
- Not offeredSource, fall 2027 entry
Tufts transfer acceptance rate
Tufts's transfer acceptance rate for fall 2025 was 10.9%. 53 transfer students enrolled. The first-year rate the same year was 10.8%.
Source: Official school data report, section D, 2025-2026
The Common Data Set is the official data report colleges publish each year.
Transfer and first-year applicants are different groups. Use the first-year rate as context only.
A rate this low tells you how few seats exist. It says nothing about you. No GPA makes this safe.
Our read: The pool mixes Arts and Sciences, Engineering and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, which takes BFA applicants with a portfolio. We do not know the split, so the total does not tell you the odds for one school.
What Tufts looks for
Tufts says it wants students to show maturity and growth since entering college. It recommends at least one year of college study before you enroll and wants you in good academic and disciplinary standing.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
Our read: Read that as a description of who got in. It is not a line you can clear. Many strong records are turned away.
Tufts discourages applying with more than two years of full-time college credit, because a Tufts degree requires two years of full enrollment.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
You send one academic evaluation from a college-level instructor or advisor. Tufts also asks you to copy course descriptions from your catalog into a Word document, and a mid-term report with signed grade updates from current professors.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
Tufts does not offer interviews to transfer applicants. It does not allow deferral, and it takes transfers only in the fall.
Source: Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Engineering sets course floors. Sophomore transfers need at least two semesters of college calculus or higher and two semesters of calculus-based physics or chemistry by enrollment. Junior transfers need two years of coursework covering the introductory engineering courses and progress on the foundation courses for their intended major.
Source: Tufts School of Engineering transfer requirements, undated page
Our read: If you want Engineering and are not on that math and science track now, fix your spring schedule first. An essay cannot replace the courses.
What GPA do you need?
The FAQ says there is no minimum GPA cut off, and that the most successful applications have a GPA above 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Source: Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
A GPA that matches past admits is not a cutoff, and it does not mean you are in.
Transfer essays and supplements
The application has the Common Application for Transfer plus Tufts short answer questions. The transfer page says Tufts wants applicants to show maturity and growth since entering college. The prompts were not on the pages we could open.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry; Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Our read: Build your answers on what you did at your current school: a class that changed your plan, a job, a research group. Tufts says growth since you started college is the thing it reads for, so skip stories from high school.
Our read: Name the Tufts school you are applying to, and one course or program you checked. Engineering applicants should connect their coursework to what they want to build.
Your grades are mostly set. Your essay is not. Get a free review against the six things a transfer essay has to do.
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Transfer requirements
Tufts requires recommendation letters. It does not require SAT or ACT scores. There is no interview.
Recommendation lettersRequired
Transfer applicants must submit one academic evaluation from a college-level instructor or advisor.
Source, 2026-2027
Tufts is test-optional. Scores you send are considered in context. A $75 application fee or a waiver request is required.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
You must name a school or program when you apply: Arts and Sciences, Engineering, the BFA, or the five-year BFA+BA/BS. You do not have to commit to a major. BFA applicants send 12 to 20 finished pieces from the past two years.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry; Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Applicants 24 or older, veterans, parents and some others apply through the Resumed Education for Adult Learning (REAL) program, which has different requirements. REAL does not cover the BFA or five-year combined programs.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry; Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
If you were not admitted as a first-year applicant, you may apply as a transfer if you enroll at another accredited two- or four-year school. Reapplicants send new essays.
Source: Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry; Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
Transfer deadlines for fall 2027
For fall 2027 entry, the application deadline is March 15, 2027.
Source: Tufts University transfer information, 2026-2027
- You send or do something
- The school answers
- March
- May
The mid-term report is a separate upload, open from March 15 to April 5, 2027. Trimester and quarter schools may use finalized winter grades.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
Our read: Tufts may decide your application before every part arrives. Send your own materials by the deadline and do not wait on the report.
Will your credits transfer?
What you must finish there
Students must be fully enrolled members of the Tufts community for at least two years to earn a Tufts degree.
Source, 2026-2027
Tufts does not automatically transfer credit course for course. Departments decide, faculty make the formal call, and the formal request comes after you enroll, through the SIS WebCenter. At admission, Advising Deans give you an estimate.
Source: Tufts transfer of credit, undated page; Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Only courses with a C- or higher can receive credit. You can transfer up to the equivalent of 60 credits. You need at least two years or 60 credits at Tufts to earn the degree, and 120 credits to graduate from Arts and Sciences or Engineering.
Source: Tufts transfer of credit, undated page; Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Our read: The estimate is not the final answer. Keep a syllabus for every course, and use the estimate to decide whether the move is worth it before you pay a deposit.
Build a full list
The FAQ says need-based aid is limited for transfers, and also says admitted students receive a line saying Tufts meets all of their demonstrated need. International transfer aid is very limited, so only a small number of international applicants are admitted each year.
Source: Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Our read: Those two lines pull in different directions and the page does not reconcile them. Ask the financial aid office what a transfer in your situation receives before you rely on aid.
Housing depends on space. Admitted students are told only if housing is not available.
Source: Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
- Apply to schools across more than one tier. Do not build the list around one long shot.
- Keep your grades up this term. Most transfer readers see your latest work.
- Decide now what you do if every answer is no. Staying and finishing strong is a real plan.
- Northwestern UniversitySimilar odds
- Georgetown UniversitySimilar odds
- Cornell UniversitySimilar odds
- Washington University in St. LouisTakes more transfers
Questions students ask
Do I need to have finished a year of college?
Tufts recommends at least one year of college study before you enroll. Typically two semesters of college work are expected.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry; Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Can I start in January?
No. Tufts offers no mid-year admission. Transfers start in the fall.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry; Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Do I have to send my high school transcript?
Yes. The FAQ says only the high school transcript is required from high school.
Source: Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
Can I take a class without enrolling in a degree program and still transfer?
No. Students who took classes without enrolling in a degree program apply as first-year applicants.
Source: Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
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Sources
- Official school data report, 2025-2026
- Tufts, applying as a transfer candidate, fall 2027 entry
- Tufts transfer FAQ, fall 2027 entry
- Tufts transfer of credit, undated page
- Tufts School of Engineering transfer requirements, undated page
Numbers come from official reports, read by our tools and checked. Notes were drafted with AI tools from the official pages linked beside them. A person has not reviewed this guide yet. Admission decisions belong to each college, and no one can promise one.