I guess I just let myself be scared/influenced by all the T-14 or doom posts here. I cant help being overly cautious though, since it is such a big step and would mean a huge change for me. I'd be moving thousands of miles away, alone in a strange city, leaving my fiancee (who's been my SO for six years) behind for at least a year until she is done with her own graduate studies, etc.
One other thing I was considering was to go to our state school and then try to transfer out to somewhere in Boston after the first year? That would certainly eliminate a few concerns, especially the SO situation and it would be less of a financial burden in the end due to the state school having such a low tuition in comparison, but I worry about the chances of getting in via transfer rather than as a 1LS.