<p>NYU and BU are good schools, but NU is simply at another level. It is an absolutely superb university, at the top tier of US universities (with schools like Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Chicago, JHU, etc.), while NYU and BU are not.
The Medill School of Journalism is generally regarded as the premier undergrad journalism school. The English Dept is great, and it offers both majors and 2 different minors in writing (see [English</a> Department - Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences: Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.english.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/writing-major/about/about-sequence.html]English”>http://www.english.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/writing-major/about/about-sequence.html) and [English</a> Department - Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences: Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.english.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/writing-major/about/about-cross-genre.html]English”>http://www.english.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/writing-major/about/about-cross-genre.html)).
We are also from the east coast, and my daughter has had 4 fabulous years at NU (graduating in a couple of weeks). Chicago has so many flights to most east coast cities, that travel has not been a problem (although Thanksgiving can be quite hectic).
If someone were given a choice between the 3 schools you list, I couldn’t imagine them going anywhere but NU.</p>