<p>friendlymom, I think the <em>purpose</em> here is not to look for something drastically different from boarding school. The LAC model boarding schools adopt is a good one, one kids should continue on in their undergraduate years. The idea is to find a place just as great as their BS but with something additional to offer, both academically and socially so kids from BS can continue to develop and grow. In that sense, it’s not that LACs are not good but they are just too similar to some BS. If one truly wants something different, maybe try a pre-professional school such as engineering in a big public university? I suppose that’d be a very different scene than the traditional boarding schools.</p>