There is a very big difference across the sciences. For example, the physics community has agreed an informal ‘core’ curriculum that is the basis for a physics major at pretty much any reasonably academic US college- that way, they know the minimum that their grad school applicants arrive with. US Med schools have done the same thing.
So, you can go anywhere and be in good shape for physics or pre-med- but some colleges will have stronger departments than others. So, look at the number of majors and tenured faculty- and the trend over time. Facilities that are reasonably up to date say the college is putting money into it. Look at what happens to graduates (med school acceptance rates, for example), but be aware that many people with science backgrounds go on to Law, Banking, and lots of other fields.
For any science, what are the research opportunities for students? How many students actually participate in these opportunities (beware the poster child, in which you are shown a shiny example- but it is a student so superlative that they could have gone to community college and still been a star).