<p>Erin’s dad has some solid advice. You really don’t want to graduate with a huge financial burden on your back if it’s topped off with uncertain employment prospects.</p>
<p>^IMO, Northwestern and Middlebury aren’t really crapshoots like Ivies or top LACs are. They seem good as matches- I’d be willing to bet you’ll get into one of them. But on another note, why is Middlebury (or Williams) on your list if you want to be near a city? I’d visited Middlebury actually wanting some geographical isolation in my college experience, but found it to be way too rural. I might be biased, but I think Amherst might be a better fit for you than either Middlebury or Williams, at least in terms of location. It’s slightly under 2000, though you should know that it’s a member of a 5-college consortium including Hampshire, UMass-Amherst, Smith, and Mt. Holyoke and that less importantly, it looks like it’s currently undergoing expansion considering two significantly overenrolled classes have entered the College in the past 3 years. I’d also recommend looking into UChicago (for polisci and proximity to the city) and Columbia (right in NYC).</p>