Tufts University
Tufts University has nothing to do with Columbia. It is a sort of indistinct educational institution with a campus that looks like a cheap version of Harvard's. It's located close to, but infuriatingly inaccessible from, the city of Boston. In fact, to get anywhere by public transportation, Tufts students must inevitably pass by Harvard, reminding them of their academic inferiority every time they venture out into the wider world.
Seinfeld character Elaine Benes attended Tufts, because, she said, it was her safety school. This is pretty much anyone's unstated reasoning for going there.
Culturally, it's known for having a frat and binge drinking culture locally rivaled only by MIT, although both these institutions' achievements in these fields are sad when compared to any state university near you.
