My S2 was considering these 2 schools seriously as well. (He had nearly applied to JHU ED but after a second visit, an overnight and 2 class visits, it became clear that stem cast too long a shadow on that campus for someone who’s an English major.) After 2 visits to Tufts and WUSTL, he ultimately chose tufts bc he felt it suited him better in terms of its vibe and he preferred the location, which he thought also fed into tufts’ vibe. His 2 best friends from high school attend WUSTL and northwestern. He’s visited them both since they began college and he’s thrilled he’s at tufts. Granted, his friend at northwestern is in a frat and when my son visited, they happened to be throwing big parties & he wasn’t having the thoughtful conversations he typically has at tufts. He still liked WUSTL but his friend isn’t entirely happy there, partly because the dorms are economically segregated. He’s on financial aid and can’t spend up for the nicer dorms. He thinks most ppl hang with those in their dorms for at least the first/second year and it makes for a weird setting in that fin aid ppl are hanging together and non-fin-aid ppl are hanging together. (He’s also not loving the strong pre-professional vibe, which may not matter to you.) Tufts doesn’t charge different prices for different dorms. In housing anyway, everyone is treated the same.
If there’s a chance you can visit these schools once again, I’d recommend doing that & asking kids in the dining halls what it’s like being a student at these schools. And sitting in on classes is worthwhile too. My son loved the discussions he heard in classes at tufts, WUSTL and brown, but was disappointed at JHU. One of the profs there actually dismissed the class 15 mins early bc he got irate when no one could discuss their reading in a writing seminars class. Told my son to ignore it bc it was a good dept but then son sat in on another class & that was equally silent. That’s all it took to not want to apply ED. He wanted a more vibrant, intellectual humanities community & he’s found it at tufts.