How does Northeastern's campus size compare to Tufts' campus size?

The biggest practical difference is that Northeastern feels more embedded in a dense city grid, while Tufts feels more like a traditional college campus spread over a hill. In terms of raw campus size, Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus is larger than Northeastern’s Boston campus. But in daily life, Northeastern can still feel busy and expansive because it sits right in the middle of Boston, with academic buildings, residence halls, transit, and city activity all tightly woven together.

Tufts usually feels more self-contained. You’re moving around a broader campus footprint, often with more distance and elevation between buildings, and the campus atmosphere is easier to separate from the surrounding area. That can make it feel more spacious and more clearly like “the campus” even if you are still close to Boston.

Northeastern tends to feel more compact when you are walking between classes, especially compared with a hillier campus like Tufts. At the same time, it may feel less enclosed because the city is constantly part of your day, so the experience extends beyond the official campus boundaries. Students often experience Northeastern as a campus-plus-city environment rather than a fully bounded college setting.

If you are coming from a smaller high school and want the place that will likely feel more like a classic campus, Tufts is probably the one that will register that way. If you want a campus that is physically somewhat smaller but connected to a much bigger urban environment, Northeastern is the clearer match.