Wow, IBviolamom that was extremely helpful! I think Macalester is the front runner of all that have been mentioned so far. I’ve been reading a lot about University of Richmond but I think Macalester has more of the vibe she is looking for. The less Greek the better she says. CA too far (not sure why because Mac is a plane ride away) and I would prefer that the city she is close to not be NYC for $$ reasons. Going out on the weekend and taking advantage of the city is too expensive.
So glad you found it helpful, @2manycollegequestions4me! Mac has no Greek life at all, in case you weren’t sure. There are parties if you want them of course, like any college, but you’re just as likely to find kids hanging out in small groups playing board games or watching movies or things like that.
I know I sound a little bit like an advertisement for the school, but she really does love it that much and her dad and I agree. The few times we have been there with her we have been mightily impressed by pretty much everything. It’s been a great fit for our daughter, who couldn’t wait to leave the cliché suburban HS environment (seriously, it was like John Hughes movie updated for the 21st century) she tolerated for four years so she could find “her people”. And she did!
Lewis and Clark, across the river from Reed and not quite as quirky.
A couple more:
Lake Forest College (outside Chicago)
New College (in Sarasota, FL)
Bowdoin College (half hour to Portland, ME)
Yes, Lake Forest, which is in a very wealthy suburb on Chicago’s north shore. It’s a bit preppier and pre-professional (business, accounting, pre-law), but it’s also strong with traditional LAC offerings (history, English, etc.). Beautiful campus, too.
Agnes Scott, which someone mentioned earlier, really gets overlooked, both as an LAC and as a women’s college. It’s in a quiet, pretty suburb (Decatur) of ATL and is literally like a block from public transportation to the city. How this is not a top destination for women, competing with Wellesley and Smith and Holyoke and Bryn Mawr and Barnard, is beyond me.
Reed College, if your D has strong stats and is very liberal, is in Portland. The Claremont schools are a bit outside Los Angeles but still in that general area, although all of the Claremont schools are very tough admits (Scripps, the women’s college, is probably the “easiest” (read: still not easy) to get into). The cool thing about the Claremont consortium is that if you’re accepted at one, you have full access to all the others: Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Pitzer.
Um…what else? There are lots of schools that are thirty minutes or so from an urban center. Hendrix is a terrific college (progressive, rigorous), and it’s thirty minutes from Little Rock. More people should be aware of the awesomeness of Hendrix. Ursinus is a similar distance from Philly, I believe. Cornell College (one class at a time!) is thirty-five minutes north of Iowa City (not urban, no, but a very happening college town). Ohio Wesleyan is about thirty minutes outside Columbus.
Clark U is in Worcester, MA, which gets a bad rep, but it’s such a fine school that it’s worth mentioning. Holy Cross is there, too, and despite its name it’s a pretty progressive school for a Catholic institution, with a terrific academic reputation. U of Puget Sound is in Tacoma.
The others have already been mentioned: Macalester, Barnard, Lews & Clark, U of Richmond.
College of Wooster or Ohio Wesleyan might make surer safeties, Woo has a nice town of its own (much bigger than Gambier) and not terribly far from Cleveland, OWU is closer to Columbus than Denison, by a bit. Both easier to get into than Denison, both offer merit if that matters.
Re: Agnes Scott - Decatur is a nice little city on its own, cool stuff downtown, not far from Emory too, easy to get into Atlanta.
Colorado College is in a city, but it’s Colorado Springs. Does have movies and concerts, but it’s a pretty conservative place.
Southwestern U near Austin, TX (good merit aid), University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA,
Colorado College kids don’t seem to have issues with it. Many hip enough joints in town to frequent. Denver is only an hourish away for plenty more including one of the country’s best music venues, Red Rocks.
I’d recommend Brandeis, which I loved but is a bit too much of a pretty penny for me.
We looked at LACs that were close to cities (preferably with good public transportation into the city, too). Here are a few to check out: Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Tufts (ok, not really a LAC but we liked it), Barnard (which is right in the city), Occidental, Scripps and the other 5Cs (although IMHO it’s not really easy to get into LA from Claremont compared to the others I mentioned). A few others that come to mind are are Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Willamette, Agnes Scott.
If the reasons for “close to a decent sized city” are: " access to theatre, dancing, restaurants etc."
Suggest your really examine how much access to what you care about there really is.
it might well be the case that a number of schools in suburban locations, and even a number in locations considered to be relatively isolated, actually have more going on, that is geared to and readily accessible by students without cars, than some schools that are nominally located in or near big cities but are afforded no, or inadequate, access.
Also cities may vary as to how much, and what type, of cultural activities are available, despite being “decent size”. Some locations of less than “decent size” may have more of the stuff you care about going on, that a student can get to and afford, than some cities of “decent size”.
It would be useful (though quite difficult) to see this flushed out.
What people should want to know is:
How much “good stuff” (as you define it) can I get to:
- within 20 minutes of campus? (for routine)
- within an hour from campus? (for weekend)
- within 3 hours of campus? (for excursion)
Repeated for both the cases with car vs. no car.
Another way to approach this would be: for every college being seriously considered, calculate travel time, via a) most efficient public transportation, and b) including driving option also, to:
the ten nearest good-sounding restaurants
the two nearest multiplex theaters
The nearest “big box” warehouse store, or concentration of ten or more individual shops carrying equivalent goods
The nearest hospital
The nearest two concert/ performance venues attracting nationwide acts
The nearest “major” (however you define that) business district
whatever other destinations are important to you
As another poster has said, Rice is not technically a liberal arts college, but it has all the offerings of one. It is small and located in the center of the Houston museum district. The Rice Village next to campus has lots of shops, restaurants, etc. The light rail stops at campus, and it is an easy trip downtown for theatre, symphony, ballet, and opera performances. Rice does not have Greek life, but has residential colleges instead. It has a reputation as a STEM school, but the humanities and social science offerings are excellent as well. Rice gets high rankings every year for happiest students and its diversity. Most of the classes are small.
As an alum, I can also second the recommendation of Rhodes in Memphis. It has a beautiful campus and is in midtown Memphis where the museums and lots of restaurants are located. However, Greek life is very prevalent at Rhodes so it may not be to her liking. Rhodes gives good merit awards.
“the ten nearest good-sounding restaurants
the two nearest multiplex theaters
The nearest box warehouse store, or concentration of ten or more individual shops carrying equivalent goods
The nearest hospital
The nearest two concert/ performance venues attracting nationwide acts
The nearest major business district
whatever other destinations are important to you”
My kids’ interests were/are very different than this list so it really will vary from student to student so the last part is key : “whatever other destinations are important to you”
A variety of affordable dining spots - Thai, Pho, Ramen, Mexican. Extra points for Ethiopian and Dim Sum
Larger concert venues are good but also clubs and smaller spots for local and less mainstream acts
Good thrift stores
Record store
Good breakfast/brunch spots as well as spots for late night dining
Independent coffee/bagel/doughnut shops
A independent theater getting the more artsy stuff
A good bookstore
Museums
Zero interest in big box stores or chains at all, really. If they need that kind of stuff, there is always online ordering.
Colo College is an hour+ from Denver downtown or where clubs and venues would be. That doesn’t erase Colorado Springs day after day. Red Rocks is more than an hour from the springs, and most of the concerts are in the summer when schools are out. The OP asked for LACs in cities, so assumed she didn’t want a city with events more than an hour away.
Colorado Springs is just an ‘old’ town. It’s heavily military and a very suburban, Christian mega-church, family oriented place. The biggest stadium is the air force academy, and they don’t host many rock concerts, although Kelly Clarkson did just perform there for the Wounded Warrior Games
Smith is in Northampton MA which is a small but bustling city. She’d also have the advantage of being able to take classes at Amherst, UMASS, Hampshire and Mt Holyoke. There is a bus service to Boston as well for the big city fix.
Here’s a website for downtown C Springs, all of which is within walking/biking distance from campus. The OP can decide if it is enough to warrant being a “decent sized city”. Personally. I think there is plenty for most students. Students are trekking into the suburbs or out to the Air Force Academy. In their free time, they head to spots near campus, downtown, or are using that time to get off campus and into nature - and yes, often to Red Rocks whose schedule meshes nicely with ski season. 
Monydad— that is an excellent point… one that definitely makes the search more difficult. My daughter’s list looks very much like doschico’s:
A variety of affordable dining spots
Larger concert venues are good but also clubs and smaller spots for local and less mainstream acts
Good thrift stores
Record store
Good breakfast/brunch spots as well as spots for late night dining
Independent coffee/bagel/doughnut shops
A independent theater getting the more artsy stuff
A good bookstore
Museums
These are the things that my younger daughter would definitely seek out and take advantage of, while my older daughter probably wouldn’t go out of her way to, and would just take advantage of whatever is happening on campus. (Kenyon was a perfect fit for her.)
D2 is very set on a LAC because of the close relationships formed with professors and small classes. I honestly think Kenyon would be perfect for her if it were not for teeny tiny Gambier.
The good thing is that as we continue to talk and research the schools mentioned here, she has started narrowing it down but by bit. She now is pretty sure about these factors—
1.) Greek life not to be an overwhelming part of social life on campus
2.) A coed school (currently at an all girls HS)
3.) More of an intellectual feel than a preppy pre- professional vibe
So that may take out Rhodes, U Richmond… and others?
Excellent points, @monydad and @doschicos . What about “decent sized city” is the draw and does that stuff exist elsewhere?
@Veryapparent suggests Northampton which is not large at all, probably not even “decent sized” (not even sure it’s a city, as Mass defines those) but it certainly checks many of the boxes mentioned - record stores, coffee shops, bagels, ethnic foods that are student priced, thrift shops, theater, live music, bars…and free bus access to big box stores and multiplexes and whatever else.
Other places that would offer a lot of that are Burlington, VT (UVM but not LAC) and Amherst, MA (Amherst, Mount Holyoke and Smith all in the area).