Schools like Yale but . . . not Yale

Wash U in St Louis is definitely worth checking out though still extremely selective.

Look into the Claremont Colleges, especially Pomona, if you’re willing to move to Southern California.

In my opinion, for what the OP wants, the most fertile territory probably is among LACs ranked by US News in the top 50 or so. The intellectual and social dynamics of ~2000 students at a selective LAC are not the same as they are at a typical 2000 student high school. You’d be living among ~2000 smart, motivated young adults from all over the country. Even a couple hundred of them would be a lot of interesting people to get to know.

Even in schools of <3000 students you do not know everyone or their business. That’s a fallacy. Remember that every year 1/4 of them graduate and another 1/4 enter.

Hi @SlitheyTove ! I did smile at the suggestion/comparison of Yale to UC Santa Cruz! Go banana slugs!

“Even a couple of hundred of them would be a lot of interesting people to get to know.” (#22)

And even this figure is greater than Dunbar’s Number.

Well said @tk21769. My undergrad (2100 then, now a smidge bigger, but not much) was smaller than my HS. I read the alum class notes and go “who is that? I don’t remember them!” Maybe its my aging memory… maybe not.

Yes there was some comfort in recognizing people and knowing who people were, but that didn’t mean you really got to know them on a deeper level, unless you wanted to. And then, at a smaller school, there seems to be better opportunity for that.

LACs are fabulous learning environments.