<p>I want to study English and I'm not sure which of the three has a better English program. Besides that, I like all three schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think the question is which has a better English program. First of all, that’s pretty impossible to tell you anyway. There aren’t any undergrad rankings of English programs. And rightfully so, because you’re not getting a PhD; you’re getting a bachelor’s degree, which is focused on breadth. Most of your classes won’t even be in English, and most of your waking hours will be spent out of class, actually. You could study English at any of them, and any differences between the English programs are probably negligible (with the exception being if you specifically are interested in journalism and communications, in which of course Emerson has a concentration). So you should focus on total experience - other offerings, minors that look interesting, location, student body, activities, etc. </p>
<p>What area do you want to be? Smith is in Northampton, a thriving community that’s about 2 hours away from Boston and has four other colleges relatively close by. It’s suburban-ish, but still pretty far from a major city. Emerson’s in Boston. Urban, close access to big-city stuff, but less of a traditional campus feel. Skidmore is in Saratoga Springs, which is a pretty rural-ish town in upstate New York. 50 minutes drive from Albany, so technically it’s in the Capital Area. (It’s also 40 minutes from Schenectady…not sure if that means anything, though, as Schenectady isn’t exactly a thriving metropolis.)</p>
<p>Smith is a women’s college. Do you want to be at a women’s college? I went to one, and it’s great, but not everyone prefers that.</p>
<p>Emerson has a special offering - a focus on writing and communications, and the arts. Do you want that?</p>