Goodness, I hate to be so disagreeable today, but I also disagree with the notion that a kid who’d be happy at Williams (for instance) would also be equally happy at any other New England LAC. I mean sure, those schools all have more in common with each other than they do with, say, the University of Michigan or Tulane. But if you’ve already narrowed it down to wanting to attend either an LAC or a small private university, there are LOTS of differences between them that are best explored in person. The vibe at Williams and Wesleyan is totally different. And anyone who thinks that Bowdoin and Vassar are terribly similar should listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent podcast (Revisionist History, season 1, episode call “food wars”) about those two schools. Even Swarthmore and Haverford are quite different, though they’re only a few miles apart and part of the same consortium. But they have a different feel, and definitely attract different types of kids.