<p>Swarthmore would fit all the items on your list.</p>
<p>Gorgeous suburban Philadelphia location. Train station on campus that takes you 11 miles to downtown.</p>
<p>Bio is a particular specialty of the school, with very high numbers of majors going to med school and to research PhD programs.</p>
<p>Philosophy is also one of the school’s strongest departments.</p>
<p>Student body is liberal politically, but not particularly “hippie” or outlandish. The school and students are very academically oriented. They study hard and enjoy professors who push them. The school has a history of social and civic engagement. The president refers to it as “ethical intelligence”.</p>
<p>Financially robust institution with a huge endowment. One of the most ethnically diverse schools on the east coast, both in student body and faculty.</p>
<p>Study abroad options are solid. The school operates three of its own programs – one in France, one in Poland, and one in Ghana. About 40% of students spend a semester abroad.</p>
<p>Downside? You have to be OK with working pretty hard. And, it’s not a very preppy place. It’s also pretty hard to get into.</p>
<p>Other options I would consider would be Williams and Amherst (but, these are just as hard to get into and don’t match your criteria quite as well).</p>
<p>I haven’t looked at premed spefically at any of these, but Haverford would definitely be worth looking at. Wesleyan would be worth a look-see in a larger LAC. Vasser would fit ppretty nicely. Oberlin in Ohio is probably a good match, although more rural. Several of the mid-west LACs (Grinnell, Carleton, etc.) are terrific schools and great admissions values because they aren’t in popular locations.</p>
<p>Most of the other New England LACs are in pretty remote locations and tend towards the preppy side (although still “liberal”. Bowdoin in Maine is a good school. </p>
<p>A little further down the selectivity scale, there are several solid LACs sprinkled around Eastern Pennsylvania. Lafayette, Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson, Gettysburg. These tend towards a preppier, harder partying crowd a bit that the Philadelphia schools. But, some of them are reasonable from an admissions standpoint, offer some nice merit aid, and are good solid schools.</p>
<p>If you are a girl, Wellesley in suburban Boston fits all your critiera. Bryn Mawr, Smith, and Mt. Holyoke are also terrific women’s colleges and well worth considering. I think they are the best admissions values around.</p>