Before comparing the engineering programs, I would start by asking what the student wants in terms of a college experience. Tufts is in a suburban location, but is walking distance to a fun urban neighborhood, Davis Square, and has good public transit access to Cambridge and Boston. Northeastern is in the city in an area with a lot of other colleges and universities.
Tufts is basically a large LAC with some grad schools added on – the major one, the med school, is some distance away, in Boston. Northeastern is much more pre-professional feeling and (for the most part) the graduate schools are co-located on the campus. In keeping with the pre-professional vibe, Northeastern’s claim to fame is its co-op program which provides actual work experience before graduation. Northeastern has 10,000 more undergraduates than Tufts.