<p>Well, if you want a better balance between engineering courses and liberal arts, Smith is a better choice. But the reason you have time to take lots of liberal arts courses (more than you would take at WPI) is because the generic engineering degree doesn’t have as many required courses as an accredited ME degree would have. And since Smith is a LAC it has tons more options in humanities, arts, and social sciences than WPI where these departments are much smaller.
So if you know you want to go directly to grad school, then consider Smith for its other benefits.
If you think you might want to work for awhile in industry before getting an advanced degree, then choose WPI.
There are trade-offs to be considered no matter which way you decide since these schools are SO different. Good luck!</p>