<p>I also recommend the following schools:</p>
<p>Columbia University: Excellent overall reputation, serious academics, NYC, good Political Science and Mathematics departments and top 10 Medical School.</p>
<p>Cornell University: Excellent overall reputation, amazing in the sciences, quaint little college town for outdoorsy types and top 10 Medical School.</p>
<p>Duke University: A little bit South of the Northeast, but still close enough. Great reputation, great academics, strong Political Science and Biology departments and a top 5 Medical school. What's not to like.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins University: Arguably the biggest name in Medical education. JHU is also excellent in International Relations and Biology. Excellent Medical school placement.</p>
<p>Northwestern University: Obviously, Northwestern is not a Northeastern school...but Chicago is not too far away and it is an awesome city. Northwestern is a great university with a very gifted student body and excellent med-school placement.</p>
<p>University of Chicago: Also not Northeastern, but still worth looking at. Known for very serious, high powered academics, many undergrads shy away from Chicago. But if you want an intellectual atmosphere with a great faculty and challenging academics, I would check out Chicago.</p>
<p>University of Michigan-Ann Arbor: Another school that is not Northeastern and certainly not midsized, but Michigan does fit some of your interests. It is arguably #1 in Political Science, especially in American Politics, and top 10 in Mathematics and Medicine. The overall reputation of Michigan makes it very effective at Medical School placement. Finally, as an undergrad, you will have more opportunities to do research that is pertinent to your field of interest at Michigan than at any other university in the nation.</p>
<p>University of Pennsylvania: Another university with a great reputation, great academics, strong International Relations and Pre-Med programs and a top 5 Medical school.</p>