<p>I was totally on the same page as you. I don’t know where you’re from, but personally, as New Yorker myself sick of the flat landscape and attitude yearning for scenic, slower paced charm, I looked no further than the many fantastic universities upstate New York has to offer. The Catskills are breathtaking and there are dozens of colleges from which to choose. Now, I know you said you consider yourself, you need to decide if prestige or price are a factor, because there’s a huge range of great educational institutes to which you can apply. If you want the appeal of an Ivy League, Cornell is GORGES, or so they say to emphasize both the beauty of campus set atop a paradise and to reinforce the fact that it’s so hard and competitive that high school scholars are driven to jump off of those very gorges. Equal in prestige and acceptance rate (within New York and to all grad schools) is the small liberal arts colleges like Colgate, Hamilton and Vassar, but they may not be big enough for you liking. All listed have nice towns, particularly Hamilton’s endearing village of Clinton. Less competition for entry but excellent educations are offered at SUNY schools Binghampton and Geneseo, which are truly the best academics for the best price. Binghampton has a nice landscape but the campus (to me, at least) is unbearably ugly. It’s big, wheras Geneseo hovers above the 5000 minimum you listed but has a beautiful campus with literally INCREDIBLE views of the surrounding mountains and farmland, an adorable, amiable college town and a strong sense of community and pride on campus, complete with quirky traditions and an accomodating, attentive staff. Lower in prestige and competition but with strong programs and great alumni connections is private school Ithaca College set in the same scenic region as Cornell. There are MANY more but I can’t testify to any more, and I think I got most of the better-ranked and respected ones in upstate New York.
Visit upstate New York if you’re looking for a great college experience, socially and academically, enriched by sweeping scenery! (wow i sound like an admissions person haha!)</p>