" I actually love the sound of Whitman, and so does she. However, it has a big problem, in that it is 4 hours from Seattle."
I am puzzled how this is a problem for someone coming from New York. I guess you mean to say that she wants to avoid a rural area? I think that young people tend to over-emphasize this. Washington and Lee U is a quite a hike from Washington DC but it has few problems attracting top students, for example.