Tufts is a school that takes its international relations program so seriously it colors everything else on campus. Medford, Massachusetts is a suburb north of Boston, which means you're adjacent to a city without actually being in it. The campus is gorgeous, the student body is politically engaged and thoughtful (you'll actually hear sustained arguments about foreign policy at dinner), and the vibe is “serious but not pretentious.” That's a real thing at Tufts—people care about ideas without the performative elitism you'd feel at some peer schools.
The academics are solid across the board, especially IR and engineering, but Tufts is genuinely known for teaching and mentorship. Your professors will know you by junior year. The student body is academically confident without being obnoxious about it, and that mix makes for a genuinely collaborative rather than cutthroat vibe. Class sizes are reasonable. But you should know that Tufts's political culture leans left, discussions can get performatively woke, and if you're a conservative or just tired of talk about identity, it can feel suffocating.
Tufts's brand is “serious, thoughtful school with strong IR,” and employers respect that. You're not getting the prestige halo of an Ivies school, but you're getting a degree that signals actual intellectual work. The location is awkward for a college town—not urban enough to feel city, not rural enough to feel removed. You'll need a car or the MBTA. Greek life is present but not dominant. If you want a school where ideas matter and people are genuinely thoughtful about the world, Tufts delivers that. If you're comparing it to an Ivy for prestige, know that the degree means something, but the halo is smaller.