<p>Judging from the NYTimes admissions tally, Northwestern would be no easier to get into than Davidson and probably on a par with Wesleyan. If you’re trying to avoid more reaches I would avoid NU.</p>
<p>The real split seems to be between the small colleges and the big universities on your list. At the very beginning of the thread you did seem to draw the line in your search at 5,000 students. The biggest LAC (not counting Dartmouth) on your list is Wesleyan at 2,800. That’s a significant come-down from 5,000.</p>