I’ll put in the plug for the College of Wooster. My son is a freshman intending to major is geo,minor in bio, and go on to grad school. Their whole focus is non-competitive, collaborative learning, accessible professors, and mentored research. We are from the DC area and it takes only 6 hours to drive there, which isn’t too bad. There has already been great advising and he used his Wooster connections to line up his summer internship over winter break. He also really liked Carleton but it’s much further away from the East Coast and also a lot colder than Ohio. Keep in mind that if you have to drive up and down I-95 you are likely to hit tons of traffic which can make a shorter distance take more time, the drive to Ohio is pretty easy and fast. They also give nice merit awards.