<p>“President of the college is probably the only out lesbian college president in the country”</p>
<p>There’s Biddy Martin, Amherst College; Cynthia Huggins, University of Maine at Machias; Theodora Kalikow, University of Maine at Farmington; DeRionne Pollard, Montgomery College. I’m sure there are more…</p>
<p>Not sure where your statistics are coming from (I know you mentioned the Common Data Set), but the idea that Shimer enrolled 7 new students in 2012 is a bit ludicrous. Or that it graduates “no more than 3 per year.” My daughter is one of 35 students graduating this year. And while it may not apply to everyone, her financial aid was more than she needed. Incidentally, the president of Deep Springs is a former Shimer faculty member. Not surprising, perhaps.</p>
<p>You are correct in that the numbers are way off from reality. Of course, no college could survive with 4 to 7 new students per year! Shimer’s new (and transfer) student enrollment averages about 30-40 per year. I have been to the last three graduations, and there were 25-30 graduates each year (my daughter’s class of 35 or so this year will be a bit higher than normal). And the studies of how many graduates go on to earn Ph.D.'s tend to analyze graduates over a ten year period, so Shimer’s pool of graduates studied is 250-300, which is enough to provide reasonably good evidence of Ph.D. productivity.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’d love UVM and Burlington VT … not a “top tier” school but there is an honors college and merit money for top students.</p>
<p>Reed, Reed, Reed, Reed. Obviously they want good grades, test scores…but they also really value your interest in the school and how you fit, and are willing to overlook some slip-ups. I’d say interview and just be yourself; show your interest (if you have it). They LOVE quirky. It’s a beautiful, very liberal campus with exactly the kind of people you’re talking about, and Portland is a hipster mecca.</p>
<p>Also, Portland State could be a cheap safety. My step sister goes there and it’s got pretty nice facilities and a nice urban campus that’s in the middle of downtown Portland. Also, being from California, you qualify for the WUE Scholarship, which will give you a discount of in-state tuition plus half.</p>
<p>I don’t know if these have been mentioned, but also try:
Colorado College, Kenyon, Oberlin, Grinnell, Middlebury, University of Washington, University of San Francisco, San Francisco State, Green Mountain College, University of Puget Sound, Mills</p>
<p>It’s difficult to find an ultra-liberal school in an urban setting because, as people mentioned, most of them are in the middle of nowhere. Maybe you’ll find, though, that the intellectual bubble is enough for you. There was a quote in an Oberlin pamphlet I got a few days ago that said something like “College is supposed to be a removal from the real world.”</p>