<p>I have a 4.3 GPA and a 31 on my ACT (but my super-score is a 35). I'm looking for a small (2,000-ish and under) school that is rich in tradition, has a beautiful campus, and is academically rigorous-- something like Williams or Middlebury but in the Midwest. It has to be in the Midwest! Right now, I'm looking at Grinnell, Kenyon, and Notre Dame, even though Notre Dame is a little bigger than I am looking for. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Thank you!!</p>
<p>Carleton, St. Olafs, Oberlin (okay, not beautiful, and a little bigger at 2,600, but still attractive)</p>
<p>Denison, Macalester.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo college perhaps</p>
<p>If you’re considering Notre Dame, consider U Chicago – it has a smaller undergrad student body than UND, lots of tradition, and a gorgeous campus.</p>
<p>CARLETON. 
Obviously I’m biased, but it is very rigorous academically and is right around the size you want (2000 students). It has a beautiful campus (with an 800 acre arboretum!) near the Twin Cities in a cute little town, along with plenty of tradition. This includes (but is not limited to): the appearance of the bust of Schiller, which was stolen years ago and appears every now and then at notable Carleton events (recently it was on the Colbert Report), the Dacie Moses House, which was left to Carleton as a place where students can come at any time to bake cookies, and Rotblatt, a softball game with one inning for every year the college has existed, where every player must hold a drink in one hand while playing. </p>
<p>(end shameless promotion here…haha).</p>
<p>In addition, other great midwestern LACs you might be interested in are Macalester (very rigorous, around 1700 students, in a beautiful residential part of St. Paul, MN), Grinnell (don’t know as much about it but you’re already looking into it, which is good), Oberlin (OH), Kenyon (OH), Beloit (WI), and Kalamazoo (MI). If you’re willing to look at slightly bigger schools, then Wash U in St. Louis is also a great school to look into.</p>