You are going to do best at a school that is the best fit. The schools here are all quite different, vibe-wise, but not academic-wise. Do you want large, rural? Small LAC in a gritty city? Large Urban? Mid sized suburban? Focus on fit since cost is not a factor right now. Visit on revisit day. None of these schools is going to be a cake walk for GPA. HC is know for grade deflation, but supportive faculty. Something like 20-25% of kids at BC, HC, and maybe Tufts are premed to start - so fierce competition. UCONN is large, but also has tons of premeds. Not sure about NEU % of class for premeds.
^ very good suggestion. They are all excellent and you can accomplish your goal from each. But they are all quite different (laid out well by @privatebanker ). Fit is really important as you will thrive where you fit best. You will also really enjoy the process where you fit best (although very challenging, if you truly want it, it will be stimulating).
You’re fortunate to have great options (all being options as cost appears to be a non-issue).
Congrats on your achievement and continued success!
To be more precise, the Boston city line cuts between lower campus (where many dorms are; that’s technically Boston), and middle campus (where classes are; technically Newton). The B line of the T ends at the BC campus. The faster C and D lines stop in Cleveland Circle, where some BC juniors live and which has a 5-min shuttle to campus. It is not a problem to have a job in downtown Boston while attending BC.
Put another way, BC has easier access than a number of other Boston-area colleges, including Tufts, Babson, Wellesley, etc., though travel time would depend on the exact destination. Obviously, Northeastern is a more urban option, if you want urban. Try to visit if you can; the differences will be clear.
What are your costs for each school?
^I agree, BC is in a great location, very very close (on) the city line. You get the best of both worlds location-wise (sprawling manicured campus and access to the city).
OP, you really need to visit all these schools if possible!
I just got my financial aid package for Holy cross, and it’s now my cheapest by a lot.
Congratulations! Holy Cross is really top-notch academically.
Congrats. Agree Holy Cross is very strong and supportive in pre med especially bio. BC also has a strong bio program and Tufts strong as well.
UMASS med school is in Worcester where HC is located and that will provide opportunities for pre-med students.
You’re kidding, right? This school screens premed applicants and only recommends those with top stats. If you have a 1-in-3 or 1-in-4 chance, too bad for you; they don’t recommend you and your chances go to zero.
@mikemac You have been posting that rhetoric for years. All colleges screen premed applicants, Holy Cross is no different. 10% of Holy Cross living alums are doctors or dentists. That’s a big number. If Holy Cross screened everyone out, how do they all get to be Doctors? That 10% number illustrates just how strong Holy Cross is in preparing kids for medical school
Large publics do not provide a committee letter, so there can be no screening.
And there are colleges with a committee letter that provide a supportive letter for anyone that requests. For example
Not exactly. What HC actually says is " More than 10% of living Holy Cross alumni are practicing medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, etc., throughout the world today." Later on the same page they say “Holy Cross has ranged between 35 and 57 applications to medical school per year and more than 75 students per year have gone on to health professional schools (medical, dental, veterinary, pharmacy, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy, etc.).” Source: https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/health-professions-advising/frequently-asked-questions Holy Cross has about 3,000 undergrads so roughly 750 graduate each year, and 10% of that number is 75. So it seems they are rolling pharmacy, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy into their “10% of living Holy Cross alumni” number.
^^ The 10% living alumni number is physicians and dentists. @mikemac - you are making incorrect assumptions
Congratulations! have you received decision from Tufts already?
I have not, but I think I have a decent shot because I been in contact with my admissions officer for two years and I’m a qualified candidate, I think.
Also, since you guys do want numbers: BC is 22k, NEU is 24k, UCONN is 25k, Holy Cross is around 13k, and (if accepted) Tufts should be around 24k, according to net calculator.
Although HC is my cheapest, idk how happy I’ll be going there. Is it worth it taking that extra 40k in loans for a better-fit school? Assuming I do become a doctor, does that 40k make a difference since I’ll make a decent amount to pay off all my loans?
@privatebanker - My perception of relative difficulty of admissions does not agree with yours. To double check my perception, I dug up the admissions stats from the time when our oldest child was applying and compared it to the latest IPEDS data. Although BC has become more selective, the selectivity gap between Tufts and BC has actually increased.
Tufts’ admit rate is now 17 points lower than BC while Tufts’ Math SAT is now 50 points higher and its Verbal SAT is 40 points higher. These are significant differences.
Note that watching the selectivity increase at this rate is pretty frustrating for alums with children approaching college age. Our oldest managed to get in, but our youngest did not -despite having high stats, top EC’s, double legacy and a sibling attending.
Fall 2006…Admit…Math…Verbal…Fall 2017 Admit…Math…Verbal
Tufts…27%…670/740…670/740…15%…710/780…700/760
BC…29%…640/720…610/700…32%…660/730…660/730
Oops!
Typo in my last post. BC’s latest upper 75th for Verbal is 760, not 730.
I totally get that it’s getting harder—i agree with you; however, I’m a super unique applicant so I know I have a decent shot. But, for my question’s sake, let’s assume that i got in 
Check out this year and let’s re review. Two years ago isn’t relevant. And it’s not that it’s important. The students applying to both schools are great.
BC doesn’t compete with Tufts. It’s a different mission. Different type of student. It works for both.
@andrewna Be very careful when considering how much these schools will ‘cost’. Loans are real cost and do need to get paid back but grants/scholarships do not.
Short answer: I don’t think there is any simple, uncontroversial way to answer that question based on objective, data-driven evidence.
We could compare average undergraduate GPAs on gradeinflation.com, but the data may not be nearly complete and up-to-date for all 4 schools. Even if it is, we really don’t know what (if any) correlation there is between GPAs and “rigor”.
It would be easier to support apples-to-apples comparisons based on admission statistics, which are abundant and (in the case of test scores) standardized. But again, we don’t really know for sure what (if any) is the correlation between admission selectivity and course rigor. Tufts is the most selective of the 4, but IMO not by a great enough margin that it is safe to assume more “weak” students at the other 3 might be holding back the instruction pace.
I think the best comparison would be supported by something like the “engagement” reports from the NSSE.
(http://nsse.indiana.edu/)
The NSSE surveys cover issues such as reading loads or the number of writing assignments.
However, I don’t think nearly all schools have been surveyed, nor is every report necessarily made public. Even if they are for these 4 schools, that does not necessarily mean the results are available in a way that easily supports systematic search and comparison.
My suggestion:
assume pre-med programs at all 4 schools cover similar material at roughly the same pace … but with variations within each school (among its professors and courses) that may outweigh variations across the schools. In other words, if you want to control “rigor”, do it by carefully choosing your pre-med courses and instructors, wherever you decide to go (based on other college selection criteria.)