wedgedriver,
I wish could have a more definitive answer but I’m more of a humanities/social sciences person so I don’t really have a sense of the chemistry and physics departments. All I can offer are observations. I know a senior chemistry major who has been very happy with the department, although the requirements made it impossible for him to study abroad (I don’t know if this is specific to him or if it’s true for all chem majors).
For physics majors interested in engineering, Bates is dual-degree program with Dartmouth, Rensselaer, Columbia, Washington University in St. Louis, or Case Western Reserve.
http://abacus.bates.edu/Faculty/Physics/engineer.html
If you’re trying to decide between different colleges based on these departments, I would definitely recommend looking at each school’s website to see the specifics of the course requirements and descriptions.