<p>I hear that F&M is quite a demading liberal arts college with an enviable record of getting students into top professional schools (i.e. law, medicine and business). I would say it compares fairly favorably academically with many of the top LACs in terms of providing an excellent liberal arts education and in graduate school preparation (e.g, it has a great success rate getting students into the Harvard Law School). </p>
<p>F&M is probably closest in academic spirit to Haverford. Swarthmore is in a category of its own, at the extreme end of “academic”. Oberlin and Wesleyan both have strong traditions in the sciences, and share a funky, PC multi-culturalism that can, at times, be the enemy of academic rigor, especially in the humanities and social sciences (IMHO). </p>
<p>There are several schools like F&M in terms of academic rigor – more traditional than progressive:</p>
<p>Wabash College (all-male) in Crawsfordsville, Indiana
Davidson College in Davidson, NC
Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA
College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA
Hamilton College in Clinton, NY
Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.
University of the South (Sewanee) in Sewanee, TN</p>
<p>I don’t know if F&M is a “safety” school for you or not.</p>