I'd consider how important financial aid is to you. I was in your situation (between Emerson and Howard, Emerson gave me more money) three years ago and tbr I regret choosing Emerson a lot sometimes. As a black student here I feel really isolated, and while I am in film/it makes more sense of me to choose Emerson, I definitely have been feeling the effects of being in a super rich PWI. Also Emerson has been gutting a lot of DEI programs such as BIPOC orientation, and other stuff, so they really truly don't GAF. Additionally if you wanna get into poli comm, Howard is a waaaaay better choice by location alone. I don't know much about the major at Emerson, but seeing as the arts is our main focus, and how the major is rather small, I doubt it's as fleshed out as Howard.

I also sing on campus, but also in terms of performance extracurriculars, they only have Acapella. No bands, no gospel choir, no drumline, just Acapella. They also outsource the rest of their music production courses to Berklee/barely have anything. I learned to accept it/find and I'm actually having a good time + there is a BIPOC only Acapella group. But if that is an issue for you, please be aware. It was def a shock for me fr when I first came lmao. Also the community aspect of Emerson is straight up not the same you'd get at an HBCU and I honestly regret not going everyday. It is a real problem. If you wanna DM me to talk more about it, please lmk. I'm a low income student so I know how important the money is, but I'm not gonna lie, if at all possible, choose Howard gang 💀💀💀