Hi! First time ever posting on here, but I had a question and I thought I’d give it a shot.
I’m a rising senior trying to plan a college trip this August. I’m planning on visiting schools around the Philly and Boston areas and I’m trying to get some new ideas for safety schools (I kind of hate that term) that would be cool to check out.
Currently, I’m planning on checking out Amherst, Haverford, and Middlebury. I’m hoping to find some schools that are less selective to look at. My unweighted GPA is 3.9, and my weighted GPA is 4.7. I scored a 33 on the ACT and I am scheduled to take it again in the fall.
I want to look at some smaller schools without greek life. I am not too picky on location, but I want to go somewhere that is progressive and not too intensely athletics-oriented. Right now, I’m thinking about looking at Clark University and Juniata, for some examples.
If anyone has any suggestions, I’d really appreciate the help! Let me know if you need me to clarify anything. 
Bard? Muhlenberg? Wheaton?
You’ve gotten some good suggestions. I might add Ursinus and Franklin & Marshall. Skidmore is in upstate NY but it is fairly close to Midd and might be worth looking into.
Connecticut College wouldn’t be a safety but is slightly less selective than your other options and has no Greek life. Dickinson would be a good match. PA has a ton of smaller LAC’s. Ursinus, Susquehanna, Univ of Scranton, Muhlenberg are just a few that would be safeties for you and you would probably receive great merit.
If a Jesuit school is OK consider applying non-binding EA to Fordham. It isn’t a traditional LAC but the undergrad is split between two campuses so it feels smaller. The Rose Hill campus will give you a more traditional college experience.
What do you want to study ?
Any career in mind ?
What attracts you to Amherst, Haverford, and Middlebury ?
Are you a full pay applicant or in need of significant financial aid ?
Are you limiting your options to schools in the Northeast US ?
Based on your desire to attend a small, progressive school with minimal or no Greek life, and minimal focus on athletics, Kenyon College in Ohio might be of interest to you.
Dickinson College in Pennsylvania might work.
Definitely take a look online at Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, and Susquehanna as others have suggested.
I have one son at Lafayette (loves it) and one at Dickinson (jury’s still out on that one, but mostly because of COVID). I agree with the other posts. If you’d consider Kenyon in Ohio, you might look at Oberlin as well (3rd son there). Swarthmore is on par with Haverford. Maybe Vassar?
Bucknell Lehigh Lafayette? Granted these aren’t exactly safeties … but reasonable “matches”
Seconding Susquehanna, Dickinson, Skidmore, Muhlenberg, Lafayette, Franklin&Marshall.
I’d add St. Lawrence University to the list for potential likely admits that could be interesting to look into. Recommended only because we’re talking “likely admits” for schools with similar opportunities to your preferred schools…. I know it doesn’t check all the boxes but it’s a solid option to check out.
Lehigh, Franklin & Marshall and Lafayette all have an active Greek presence. You’d have to check out whether it would be too much for you to consider. Dickinson College does as well, but I believe it’s less dominant on campus.
Juniata does not have Greek life and sports are low key. Greek life at Dickinson does not seems very dominant. As you probably already know, or will soon enough, each school has their own “vibe”!
I know that you’re asking about smaller colleges, but while you’re at Middlebury, check out University of Vermont, which is small as state universities go. Undergrad enrollment is only about 10,000. Plus it has more of the feel of a private college with about 75% of its students coming from out of state. Burlington consistently comes up on lists of best college towns. UVM is very progressive, especially on environmental issues and you can volunteer for the next Bernie Sanders campaign which is HQ’d in Burlington. UVM is only about 45 minutes from Middlebury.
Easily overlooked in the Boston suburbs because it calls itself a university is Brandeis. But it’s undergrad enrollment is only about 3500 or so and it’s very progressive.
As someone who transferred from St. Lawrence due to the campus culture, I would advise OP to stay away from the school due to some of the criteria she is looking for:
- “Not too intensely athletics-oriented” - while only hockey is D1, approximately 1/3 of all students are on an athletic team and it can be extremely difficult to make friends if you are not.
- “Without Greek Life” - it may not be a larger percentage of students who are involved in Greek Life, but it does still feel like it plays a large role on campus and, again, can be difficult to make friends if you are not involved.
I second looking at UVM. My daughter is going to Middlebury but the UVM honors program really seemed great and they give merit money.