<p>I think you may be making a mistake assuming all private schools have a Prep School vibe and you could be overlooking a potentially great educational experience. Looking at the bottom of the list referenced in 3togo’s post,</p>
<ol>
<li>Case-Western 61</li>
<li>Univ. Chicago 61</li>
<li>NYU 57</li>
<li>CalTech 47</li>
<li>MIT 44</li>
<li>RPI 31</li>
</ol>
<p>I think these are private colleges that are not going to feel like prep schools. There are others as well. Technical schools tend to have a less pretentious student body. You won’t see students driving BMWs at a schools like Case or RPI. Yet they may have a student body more more focused on learning, aiming high, and preparing for a career than large state schools. Most on that list are medium sized schools with low student-faculty ratios and offer close contact with professors.</p>