I came upon this thread because I was going to ask something similar for my daughter. She’s really only looking at LACs for the same reason that OP stated. Of all the LACs, the only one I’ve specifically heard of described as a pressure cooker is Wellesley. Are there any other LACs that have that reputation? Reading between the lines, I’m guessing that what OP really wants is to avoid being surrounded by a bunch of type-A people obsessed with grades. (OP - please correct me if I’m wrong.)
Just to add my $0.02 to the topic, I went to Oberlin (graduated over 20 years ago) and although in hindsight it was a little too hippy for my tastes, it did provide the environment OP asked about. Most of the workload was writing based - you had to synthesize the material, provide your thoughts on it, and back it up. Professors read everything you wrote and commented line by line. Class discussions were well-informed, earnest, and rigorous but without people trying to one-up each other. The only 2 things keeping me from recommending it wholeheartedly are: (1) very hippy/bohemian which might be a bit off-putting to some people and (2) it’s fallen on hard times financially. Point (2) concerns me the most, since professors are underpaid relative to comparable schools and it will get even worse as they will not be getting much of a cost of living adjustment to account for inflation. In addition, when I last visited the campus, I noticed that a lot of the buildings hadn’t been renovated in a while - carpet was wearing thing, paint was chipping, etc.
With stats like OP’s, I’d definitely recommend looking at LACs. I’m surprised no one mentioned Bowdoin. The thing I keep hearing about that school is how friendly and cooperative the students are with one another. We visited the campus recently and found that to be the case. I’ve read later that it kind of suffers from a lack of diversity (lots of New England preppy types - but friendly ones) and a bit more emphasis on sports culture than my daughter would like, but overall it sounds amazing and just what OP is looking for.