<p>I just posted this same question on the College Search forum but thought I'd try it on the Macalester and Carleton forums as well. My daughter and I just returned from visiting 3 schools in Minnesota; Macalester, St. Olaf, and Carleton. She really liked Macalester and Carleton, mainly because of the friendly feel of each of the campuses, along with the intelligent but rather laid back and generally interested in learning vibe. The size of each (slightly less than 2000) seemed right, and she liked both the more urban (but manageable) setting of Macalester along with the small town setting of Carleton. At this point, as a high school junior, she's not sure what she wants to major in, although I'm guessing it will be something related to history. Does anyone have suggestions about other schools similar to these two she might consider?</p>
<p>Grinnell should definitely be on her list. It shares that low key, unpretentious midwestern vibe-but Grinnell, Iowa is very small town, so she needs to decide if that matters. Oberlin is also a good option, but slightly larger at 2,800-but Cleveland is 45 minutes away. </p>
<p>She should also take a close look at Pomona-the 5 school consortium ensures that there's five schools worth of events, and downtown LA is a train ride away.</p>
<p>How about Swarthmore?</p>
<p>Kenyon ......</p>
<p>Take a good look at Lawrence in Appleton WI. Very similar to Macalester in several ways</p>
<p>I've heard Macalester applicants/acceptees mention Whitman and Lewis and Clark as other schools they were interested in; I don't know much about either of the schools other than that they are small liberal arts schools (Mac was the only "small" school I applied to), but they might be worth checking out. Reed as well.</p>