I worked at Clark (reserach assistant for a special grant project) for five years; while the neighborhood around Clark isn’t great, it’s generally safe if you use common sense. I don’t know if it has changed, but when I was there, the majority of undergraduate students at Clark lived on campus or nearby. Worcester isn’t a typical college town–it’s a gritty, old manufacturing city (most of the manufacturing is now gone) and the city fathers are trying hard to revive the city center–I just read an article about Worcester trying to get the Pawtucket Sox (minor league team) to relocate there.
Traveling to Worcester from Wellesley isn’t going to be fun–the only good thing is that you will be going against traffic. Wellesely is 35-40 miles from Worcester depending on where you are in Wellesely. It will take at least 60-75 minutes, mabye more. Plus, if you’re from Florida, it will take you time to get comfortable with winter driving conditions here. I lived 25 miles from Worcester and would give myself an hour (more in bad weather) to get to Clark when I commuted. Do you really want to give up 2-3 hours of your day to commuting time? Make sure you have a reliable car if you do decide to commute.
Waltham is much closer to Wellesley (8-10 miles) so your commute to Bentley or Brandeis will be much better. Waltham is a small city that used to have lots of manufacturing (textile mills). It’s called the Watch City because it was home to the Waltham Watch Company. There are great restaurants in Waltham, but like Worcester, it isn’t a typical college town. You can check the stats yourself, but my sense is that most Brandeis and Bentley students live on campus–not many commuters.
Have you visited the MA schools? My son-in-law is a grad student at UNC and he and my daughter live in Chapel Hill. The difference between Worcester, Waltham, and Chapel Hill is stark. I suggest you visit MA and experience what commuting will be like because that (as I see it) is going to be an important issue.