I think that you have a difficult choice. Of the schools on your list, ND stands out for academics. However, it is very Catholic (80-85%) and although Catholics feel welcome, you will definitely notice the religious presence, and it is obviously very far from the east coast and DC… Of the other schools on your list, I would knock out Hobart and URI (not well located for your purposes). While Goucher and George Mason are well located, they are definitely not as strong academically as ND. A possible compromise would be University of Richmond. It’s a well-respected smaller school, but it’s one of the “bigger” small schools - about 3000 students. Public transportation between DC and the city of Richmond isn’t bad - about 3 hours - and being in Virginia, typically a “swing” state during national elections might be of great interest.