Grinnell, Carleton and Swarthmore all have linguistics programs, so perhaps you should add those to your search. All three have the vibe you seek.
As i am the parent of a Grinnellian, I will speak to that experience. It has a Linguistics concentration and a group of passionate students. The Classics department not only has some fabulous professors (one of them is one of the highest rated in the country on ratemyprofessor.com – not that this means anything, but prior to that coming out, my son said that she was the best teacher he’d ever had!), but they have a sight reading evening at professor’s homes every other week. Speaking from direct personal experience, i can tell you that the opportunity to work with professors on projects and not only as student-teacher but as colleagues is amazing.
A year or two ago, the college paid for the class to attend the Linguistics Society convention (or something like that) in Minneapolis. Because it was during winter break, they didn’t pay for transportation to get there, but anyone who could get to campus traveled for free, but everything else was paid for (room, food, conference). The fact that my son flew across country to spend part of his vacation soaking in this event – along with a number of other students – will tell you something about the kids who go to Grinnell, and the passion they exhibit!
Grinnell also has the Mentored Advanced Project: http://www.grinnell.edu/academics/research/maps
Yes, a university will offer a far bigger course selection – but if you take a look at how you will fill up your eight semesters, then I think you will find that the offerings of a liberal arts college will keep you quite busy.
For Linguistics, Grinnell does only have one professor with a Linguistics Ph.D., but again, the course offerings both by that professor and the others who do language-related courses will give you quite an array of learning options.
You may find, too, that you want to study other languages when you get to college, so, again, even if you can’t take some of the courses that a university will offer that an LAC does not, you will keep your mind and your language skills fully activated. At Grinnell, i know that the language departments have a number of wonderful opportunities for students and professors to get together outside of class, which i would think is one of the more appealing aspects of attending an LAC.
Grinnell is considered by many to be “out in the middle of nowhere,” but life at an LAC is campus-centric anyway, with a ton of stuff to do. It is only two blocks from the town of Grinnell, so it is not set isolated in a bunch of cornfields as some think it is! It is a wonderful opportunity to experience another part of the country (and the surrounding country is beautiful, btw). Grinnell also has a high percentage of international students, which for someone interested in languages should be a plus for you!