SO CONFUSED

<p>Hello friends! So, I am a senior in high school and still have not made up my mind on what kind of school I want to attend. The thing is, for the longest time I wanted to go to a small liberal arts school for the amazing academic experience. I am a huge nerd, so I obviously put academics first, but I also don't want to completely ignore social aspects, which I think I was doing. I recently went to UMD for a weekend and had so much fun with the whole big party school deal. However, like I said, I still want to put academics first. I have two questions I would like to present:
1) This one is more specific: Does UMD really have amazing academics (for students that want it), or are students still unable to experience the small LAC academic amazingness that I've heard so much about? I want to major in history.
2) Would I still be able to experience that same party scene fun on occassion if I attended a small LAC? Are there like major differences between small school parties and big school parties? Some of the small schools that I'm really interested in are Dickinson, Swarthmore, Gettysburg, and Franklin and Marshall.
I hope this wasn't too long and complicated. Thanks!</p>