By Glyn Caddell, BSME · Author of Digital SAT Math Secrets · Tutoring since 2008 — Updated October 9, 2026
Fourteen Massachusetts colleges with pre-med programs, what they cost, and the SAT scores of the students they admit.
Eleven Massachusetts colleges admit fewer than one applicant in five. No other state we cover comes close to that, and it changes how a student should read the table below.
Scores are given by section rather than as a single total, because a student at 680 Reading & Writing and 590 Math is in a different position from a student at 590 and 680.
Table of Contents
- Massachusetts Pre-Med Colleges by SAT Score
- Five Massachusetts Colleges Share Their Courses
- Massachusetts Has Four Medical Schools and No DO Program
- What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
Massachusetts Pre-Med Colleges by SAT Score
| College | Reading & Writing | Math | Cost of attendance | Undergraduates | Admit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 740 to 780 | 780 to 800 | $82,730 | 4,535 | 5% |
| Harvard University | 740 to 780 | 770 to 800 | $85,540 | 7,601 | 4% |
| Amherst College | 740 to 780 | 750 to 800 | $87,640 | 1,911 | 9% |
| Williams College | 740 to 780 | 750 to 790 | $84,860 | 2,076 | 8% |
| Tufts University | 720 to 770 | 750 to 790 | $88,300 | 7,061 | 11% |
| Wellesley College | 730 to 770 | 730 to 790 | $86,290 | 2,300 | 14% |
| Northeastern University | 710 to 760 | 730 to 780 | $84,641 | 17,326 | 5% |
| Boston College | 710 to 760 | 730 to 780 | $89,493 | 10,085 | 16% |
| Boston University | 690 to 750 | 730 to 780 | $86,285 | 18,248 | 11% |
| Brandeis University | 690 to 750 | 700 to 770 | $86,448 | 3,618 | 40% |
| University of Massachusetts Amherst | 650 to 730 | 660 to 770 | $34,549 | 23,671 | 60% |
| College of the Holy Cross | 630 to 710 | 610 to 700 | $80,334 | 3,106 | 18% |
| Simmons University | 620 to 700 | 600 to 690 | $63,460 | 1,670 | 70% |
| University of Massachusetts Lowell | 590 to 680 | 590 to 690 | $30,786 | 11,434 | 83% |
Each range covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the lower number, and the top quarter scored at or above the upper one. Being under the lower number does not rule a student out, and being just above it is not as safe as it looks.
Three things in that table deserve attention.
Eleven Massachusetts colleges admit under 20% of applicants. Across the fifteen states covered so far, no other state has had more than two. Harvard admits 4%, MIT and Northeastern both admit 5%, Williams 8%, Amherst 9%, Tufts and Boston University 11%, Wellesley 14%, Boston College 16%, Babson 17% and Holy Cross 18%.
Northeastern is the entry most likely to surprise someone. It admits 5% of applicants, the same rate as MIT, with 17,326 undergraduates. Anyone working from an impression of Northeastern formed ten or fifteen years ago is reading an outdated picture.
The public option is where the money is. UMass Amherst costs $34,549 and UMass Lowell $30,786, against nine private colleges on this page above $80,000. Boston College at $89,493 is approximately two and a half times UMass Amherst.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is in Cambridge with 4,535 undergraduates, and it reports the highest Math range in this series alongside Johns Hopkins.
Reading & Writing 740 to 780, Math 780 to 800. The top quarter of admitted students scored at or above 780 and 800, which means at least a quarter earned a perfect Math score. Cost of attendance $82,730, with tuition and fees at $62,396 and need-based aid that meets full demonstrated need. 4,535 undergraduates, 5% admitted.
Harvard University
Harvard University is in Cambridge with 7,601 undergraduates and runs the best-known medical school in the country.
Reading & Writing 740 to 780, Math 770 to 800. The top quarter scored at or above 780 and 800. Cost of attendance $85,540, with tuition and fees at $61,676. 7,601 undergraduates, 4% admitted.
This is the lowest admit rate on the page, and Harvard’s tuition is the lowest of the eleven colleges here that admit under 20%.
Amherst College
Amherst College is a liberal arts college with 1,911 undergraduates, the smallest school on this page, and it belongs to the Five College Consortium covered below.
Reading & Writing 740 to 780, Math 750 to 800. The top quarter scored at or above 780 and 800. Cost of attendance $87,640, with tuition and fees at $70,480. 1,911 undergraduates, 9% admitted.
Williams College
Williams College is a liberal arts college in Williamstown with 2,076 undergraduates.
Reading & Writing 740 to 780, Math 750 to 790. The top quarter scored at or above 780 and 790. Cost of attendance $84,860, with tuition and fees at $68,560. 2,076 undergraduates, 8% admitted.
Tufts University
Tufts University is in Medford with 7,061 undergraduates, and its School of Medicine runs the Maine Track, which has an early assurance route covered on our Maine page.
Reading & Writing 720 to 770, Math 750 to 790. The top quarter scored at or above 770 and 790. Cost of attendance $88,300, with tuition and fees at $70,704. 7,061 undergraduates, 11% admitted.
Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a women’s liberal arts college with 2,300 undergraduates and a long record in the sciences.
Reading & Writing 730 to 770, Math 730 to 790. The top quarter scored at or above 770 and 790. Cost of attendance $86,290, with tuition and fees at $67,176. 2,300 undergraduates, 14% admitted.
Northeastern University
Northeastern University is in Boston with 17,326 undergraduates and a co-operative education model that places students in paid work placements during the degree.
Reading & Writing 710 to 760, Math 730 to 780. The top quarter scored at or above 760 and 780. Cost of attendance $84,641, with tuition and fees at $66,162. 17,326 undergraduates, 5% admitted.
A 5% admit rate at a university of this size is unusual. For a pre-med student, the co-op structure is worth understanding before applying, since it changes how the four years are spent.
Boston College
Boston College is a Jesuit university in Chestnut Hill with 10,085 undergraduates and the highest cost of attendance on this page.
Reading & Writing 710 to 760, Math 730 to 780. The top quarter scored at or above 760 and 780. Cost of attendance $89,493, with tuition and fees at $70,702. 10,085 undergraduates, 16% admitted.
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is in Waltham with 3,618 undergraduates, and it admits 40% of applicants while reporting ranges close to colleges admitting a quarter of that share.
Reading & Writing 690 to 750, Math 700 to 770. The top quarter scored at or above 750 and 770. Cost of attendance $86,448, with tuition and fees at $68,080. 3,618 undergraduates, 40% admitted.
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is the state flagship with 23,671 undergraduates, the largest school on this page, and it belongs to the Five College Consortium.
Reading & Writing 650 to 730, Math 660 to 770. The top quarter scored at or above 730 and 770. Cost of attendance $34,549, with tuition and fees at $17,772 in-state and $40,449 out-of-state. 23,671 undergraduates, 60% admitted.
Its Math range of 660 to 770 overlaps substantially with colleges costing more than twice as much.
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is a Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester with 3,106 undergraduates, in the same city as UMass Chan Medical School.
Reading & Writing 630 to 710, Math 610 to 700. The top quarter scored at or above 710 and 700. Cost of attendance $80,334, with tuition and fees at $64,500. 3,106 undergraduates, 18% admitted.
Simmons University
Simmons University is in Boston with 1,670 undergraduates and a health sciences emphasis.
Reading & Writing 620 to 700, Math 600 to 690. The top quarter scored at or above 700 and 690. Cost of attendance $63,460, with tuition and fees at $46,874. 1,670 undergraduates, 70% admitted.
University of Massachusetts Lowell
The University of Massachusetts Lowell has 11,434 undergraduates and the lowest cost of attendance on this page.
Reading & Writing 590 to 680, Math 590 to 690. The top quarter scored at or above 680 and 690. Cost of attendance $30,786, with tuition and fees at $16,966 in-state and $36,264 out-of-state. 11,434 undergraduates, 83% admitted.
Five Massachusetts Colleges Share Their Courses
Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst form the Five College Consortium. Students cross-register across all five institutions, and free transport runs between the campuses.
For a pre-med student that arrangement matters more than it would for most subjects.
A student at Mount Holyoke, with 2,169 undergraduates, has access to course offerings and facilities at UMass Amherst, with 23,671. Laboratory space, upper-level science courses and research opportunities that a small college could not sustain on its own become reachable without transferring.
Most advice about choosing a pre-med college frames small liberal arts college and large research university as a trade-off. You pick the advising and small classes, or you pick the laboratories and the research. In this corner of Massachusetts a student gets a version of both, and that is worth knowing before ruling out a small college on research grounds.
Two of the five appear in the table above. Smith, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire fall below the enrollment threshold used for the table but belong to the same arrangement.
Confirm current membership and cross-registration terms with the consortium before planning around it, since arrangements of this kind change.
Massachusetts Has Four Medical Schools and No DO Program
Massachusetts has four MD programs and no osteopathic school at all.
- Harvard Medical School, Boston
- Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston
- Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston
- UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester
UMass Chan Is the One That Matters Most for a Massachusetts Student
UMass Chan in Worcester is the state’s only public medical school, and reported figures put Massachusetts residents at approximately 90% of its matriculants. It admitted only residents until the entering class of 2016.
For a Massachusetts student that is a meaningful advantage. For a student from elsewhere it is close to a school to cross off.
Reported tuition for 2025-26 is approximately $42,284 for residents and $72,710 for non-residents, with total cost of attendance reported at $83,247 and $113,673. Verify those with the school.
A Free Tuition Proposal That Is Not Policy
A Massachusetts Senate spending bill proposed a $10 million pilot program that would cover tuition for UMass Chan students who commit to at least five years practising family medicine in Massachusetts, at a community health center or a hospital system serving low-income patients.
That is a proposal. It is not current policy, and we have no way of knowing whether it will be adopted or in what form.
A student starting an undergraduate degree now will apply to medical school in four years, so this is worth watching rather than planning around. Check the current position before it affects a decision.
The Tufts Connection
Tufts University School of Medicine runs the Maine Track in partnership with MaineHealth, and its early assurance program has an unusual requirement: applicants must submit an SAT or ACT score taken before they started college.
That programme is open to students at specific Maine institutions rather than Massachusetts ones, so it does not apply to most readers of this page. It is covered in full on pre-med colleges in Maine.
None of this decides where to do an undergraduate degree. Medical school applications are national, and a student at UMass Lowell is not disadvantaged against a student at Harvard when both apply. What a nearby medical school changes is how easy shadowing and research are to arrange during the degree, and Boston has a density of teaching hospitals that few cities match.
What If Your Scores Are Below the Range You Want?
Being below a school’s published range doesn’t disqualify anyone. A quarter of the students admitted to every school on this list scored below its lower number.
Massachusetts has the hardest top of any state we cover and a genuinely strong public option underneath it. That combination is unusual and it changes what a lower score costs you.
UMass Amherst reports 650 to 730 and 660 to 770, admits 60%, and costs $34,549. Its Math range overlaps with colleges charging more than twice as much. In most states the fallback from the top tier is a compromise. Here it is a flagship with a five-college consortium attached.
The number worth aiming for is the upper end of a school’s range, the one the top quarter cleared, rather than the middle. The reasoning behind that is on what SAT score you need for college.
The gap is measurable and so is the work to close it. A 70 to 130 point improvement takes approximately 40 hours of effective studying, based on the students we’ve worked with since 2008, and a 130 to 250 point improvement takes approximately 80.
How to improve your SAT score covers the method, including how to work out which topics are actually costing you points. If you don’t have a recent score to compare against this list, a free diagnostic SAT gives you one, broken down by section and by topic.
How to Read These Score Ranges
Every range on this page covers the middle 50% of admitted students who submitted scores. The lower number is the 25th percentile and the upper number is the 75th, which means a quarter of admitted students scored at or above it.
Massachusetts has the best reporting coverage of any state we cover. Thirty-five of its forty-four four-year institutions over 1,500 undergraduates publish SAT section ranges. In Iowa the figure is fourteen of twenty-three, and in Maine eight of thirteen. A Massachusetts student has more to compare himself against than most.
Because most colleges are now test-optional, these ranges describe only the students who chose to submit. Students with strong scores submit and students with weak ones don’t, so a published range sits higher than the range for everyone who was actually admitted. More on test-optional colleges.
Pre-Med Programs in Nearby States
Massachusetts borders five states and Boston sits within reach of colleges in all of them.
See pre-med colleges in Connecticut, pre-med colleges in Maine, and pre-med colleges in Rhode Island.
Pre-Med Colleges in Other States
We publish the same breakdown for pre-med programs in every state.
See pre-med colleges by state for the full list.
Glyn Caddell
Glyn Caddell holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT and has been tutoring New York City students since 2008. He founded Caddell Prep in 2012 and is the author of Digital SAT Math Secrets: Lessons & Tricks to Quickly Improve to a Perfect 800 on the Math Test, which contains over 900 practice problems and is used in Caddell Prep’s SAT math classes. He is founding president of the Staten Island Technical High School alumni association and teaches every lesson on this site personally.
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