My older son thought all colleges were pretty much the same and just wanted one with a good CS program. It wasn’t really until he got accepted that he took a really close look at the ones he got in and decided where to go.
It’s a little harder with pre-med (or just vaguely sciency -medical) since you can major in anything and most schools will provide a fine foundation. The general wisdom is that if pre-med is likely you should save your money on undergrad and it doesn’t hurt to perhaps go to a school where you are likely to be at the top of the heap.