<p>Re the ‘out there-ness’ of the LACs you are considering: These are highly regarded schools with demanding academics. There is no way a bunch of 24/7 potheads are going to remain students in good-standing after the first semester. On the other hand, they do tend to be politically and socially liberal, so if that’s a concern, you may want to look further. </p>
<p>Re the size issue: Even at a school with 1,600 students, this isn’t like high school where you’ve been together for the past 9 years. You don’t know each other’s families. 400 students arrive as freshman each fall and a significant number head off overseas to study abroad in junior year. As a result, there are always new faces. Your choices for coursework are more limited, but even if you are on the quarter system, you can still take only 45 courses at most during your entire time at the school, so having 2,000 to choose from seems a bit excessive. It’s only really an issue if you have a very specific and narrow major in mind or need graduate level courses in your field. If there is some other kind of diversity you are concerned about, check the stats for that specific school - the Common Data Set.</p>