I've lived in Boston for a long time - lived in 5 different places - and have gotten all my apartments off Craigslist -- or from a realtor I contacted about a place I saw on Craigslist who happened to have more apartments to show me that hadn't been listed yet. I would say if you're not planning on moving there until August - or Sept (I'm not sure when Tufts starts), it's too early to start looking. Most tenants, depending on the area of Boston, only have to give their landlord 1-3 months notice on whether or not they're renewing their lease. A lot of leases start Sept. 1st since it's such a college town. So you're really not going to see a lot of apartments advertised for then until, at the earliest, June.