OK, I can speak to three of the schools on your list! I went to BU (so I’m familiar enough with NEU, in terms of location) and I’m from Atlanta (Emory).
Let’s start with proximity to city. I’d put BU & NEU on equal footing: the T line runs right through/next to both campuses and is a direct line into the heart of Boston. I mean, really they’re both IN Boston. They’re A+ schools if you want to be in the city. Atlanta is weird. Metro Atlanta is comprised of five main counties + a bunch of neighboring ones… it’s basically a bunch of suburban sprawl spiraling out from Atlanta proper, but very few people actually LIVE in Atlanta proper… and all of the suburbs are considered “Atlanta.” Emory is in Dekalb County (where I’m from!) and the actual area where it is is very nice–suburban/urban with a lot of resources but NOT what I would call “living in a city.” If you want to go to the city proper, or any of the really cute city areas (such as by Georgia Tech), you will need a car. So factor in “do I want to have a car” into your decision–living in ATL without one isn’t easy.
I would say Emory has a pretty strong sense of community. It has a great campus, for starters (I’d rank Emory’s campus above NEU or BU, if a “traditional” campus is something that matters to you), and I know many Emory graduates who speak nothing but fondly about their time there. “School spirit” at BU depends on how you define it–I am a DIE HARD BU fan, and was when I was there, too–I loved my school. But there’s no real sport culture (unless you decide to become a hockey fan), etc… but we do rally behind our mascot (I know many alum who ended up adopting Boston terriers as pets), and there are some really strong alumni/spirit pockets out there. I live in Los Angeles which has a “BU mafia” and I’ve made fast friends with random people I’ve met who were also alum but I never knew at school. There is a uniting spirit among those who go to BU, IMO. I can speak less to NEU, but as a casual observer of the people I know who went there in the mid-2000s (things may have changed recently given all the changes they’ve made to marketing and recruiting), I didn’t feel they had the same community feel that I got at BU. But, you’ll get better info from current or recent NEU students probably.
This is the part where I can only speak about BU:
BU has SO MANY a capella groups. Even more than when I was there, and a capella was VERY popular when I was there (2002-2006), before the big popularity explosion. They’ve added a bunch of new ones, but the ones who were hugely popular when I was there and are still there are: The Dear Abbeys (for men), Treblemakers (co-ed) and Aural Fixation (all women). It was always a huge campus event when the Dear Abbeys had a concert. Good times!
I am a writer, and felt really supported and developed at BU. I majored in journalism, but took a few English classes. My journalism classes whipped me into shape, including and especially a graduate level media criticism class I was able to take as a sophomore. You can’t slack or BS at BU–professors don’t let you slide by with an A on something lazy/thrown together, in my experience.The required writing courses are also excellent–the WR150 seminar I took in Russian short fiction was AMAZING and really honed my academic writing skills. I didn’t take any creative writing courses, but I can’t imagine they’re bad. It’s funny b/c I’m a novelist now but never took any such classes in college. I can’t speak to the History department, but in general CAS is pretty stellar. I loved every single class I took there (core liberal arts requirements + I was a German minor).
I’m happy to answer any BU specific questions you may have (or, it may be wise to post to the BU forum–there are some more recent/current students who can cover more recent developments, like the student center).