Wesleyan may not be “out and out better” than UVA, but it is out and out different from UVA, and in precisely the ways the OP wants it to be: it’s smaller, WAY less preprofessional, and equals UVA in UVA’s one widely recognized strength: Govt/Poli Sci. Two sitting governors and a United States senator attest to that. Frankly, I’m not sure it’s all that much more “outdoorsy” than UVA; this is Connecticut, not Vermont. But, there are a fair number of athletes and a huge playing field (not unlike The Lawn) occupies the center of campus.
If finances are tighter than your parents are letting on, the OP could conceivably graduate from Wesleyan in two years (assuming it accepts all your first-year credits.) The bottom line here is, if the OP doesn’t have to take a year off to “find” themselves or take an extra year to graduate because they can’t find enough courses to finish their major, that extra $33,000 in sticker price may be money well spent.