<p>Some comments on the smaller schools in your list (I’m also noticing that you have a real variety in school size…it’s a good idea to narrow down the type of environment you want to be in, it makes a huge difference):</p>
<p>Caltech is really small, and really intensely focused. Not to knock it, but you need to know what you’re in for. Harvey Mudd is also small, and has, for all practical purposes, 6 majors. Something to be careful about if you aren’t sure which area of science you want to be in yet. You might try Pomona, also in the Claremont system, for a similar feel, great science, and a little more variety.</p>
<p>Also in the category of small (Warning: shameless plug), I just graduated from Carleton College, which has liberal arts with knockout science. My list of schools I was looking at initially was almost exactly like yours (with fewer UC schools and a couple more in the Midwest), based on similar scores, with a notion of doing something in biology. I ended up with biology and geology majors, and am now in grad school for geology, and can vouch for the great departments at Carleton. I can also vouch that grad schools were falling all over themselves to accept people, particularly the geo grads, many of whom are now at the best geology grad schools in the country. </p>
<p>My suggestion comes from the fact that you’re undecided about your direction…a small liberal arts school can still give you the mind-blowing science you’re after if you pick carefully, with more time and options for figuring things out, than Caltech, Berkeley, Harvey Mudd, MIT, etc. It also gives you more access to research opportunities that only grad students get most of the time at your more research-focused schools. (For example, all 25 geology majors in my class did field work doing their own research to write the thesis they needed to graduate - mine was in Puerto Rico - which is something you won’t find at Berkeley.) In science, the best way to distinguish yourself as an undergrad is to get some solid research under your belt, and small schools have a knack for making that happen.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Good luck!</p>