<p>Yeah, when I read the OP’s criteria, Northwestern was the first school I thought of (although it’s selectivity is probably like 15% of applicants admitted.)</p>
<p>It’s campus is in a smaller city/town (Evanston) that is like Cambridge, and also like Cambridge, its only a subway ride away from a great city.
Chemistry is a top 10 program, and the rest of the natural sciences/math/engineering are in the top 10-20 range. (In fact, the chemistry faculty are top 3 quality, but they are slanted toward inorganic/physical chem rather than organic chem–their lack of sheer numbers in organic chem hurt their rating, but that’s probably more than you wanted to know!)
Humanities is in the same range. A few programs like economics, journalism, and theater are even better.</p>