Tufts vs Harvard for economics: which is the better choice for undergrads interested in the subject?

Harvard is the stronger option for undergraduate economics. Its economics department is one of the most prominent in the country, the course selection is unusually deep across theory, econometrics, policy, and applied fields, and the concentration is supported by a very large faculty whose research visibility creates a lot of academic and professional spillover for undergrads.

One major difference is scale within the discipline. At Harvard, an economics student has access to more specialized upper-level classes, more faculty doing high-profile work across subfields, and a broader ecosystem that includes nearby research centers, seminars, and related departments like government, statistics, and business economics. That matters if you want to explore different parts of economics before narrowing your interests.

Another differentiator is opportunity density. Harvard undergrads tend to have especially strong access to research assistant roles, academic advising within the field, and recruiting pipelines into finance, consulting, policy, and graduate study. Tufts can absolutely place students well, but Harvard has a thicker concentration of economics-specific infrastructure and employer attention.

Tufts still has real advantages for some students. Its undergraduate experience can feel more personal, and in some settings it may be easier to build close relationships with professors earlier. But if the question is specifically which school offers the more powerful undergraduate platform for economics itself, Harvard has the clearer edge.