Amherst is one of the very top schools in the country . You will also probably find a very intellectual group of students there who enjoy learning for learning’s sake. You will most likely find more racial and socioeconomic and religious diversity at Amherst. You will also probably find less prepsters at Amherst. If you chose Amherst, you not only have the town of Amherst to go to, but also nearby Northampton which is bigger and what I think is a fun town. I could be wrong, but I bet you could major in basket weaving at Amherst and Wall St would still recruit you. That said, Boston College has a good rep and you can be successful coming from there. Think about your personality, what suits it and where you will be happiest. One final thought, at BC they have dorms on two campuses. From what my friend’s kid says, if you want to be on the main campus freshman year, be prepared to be in a forced triple.