@collegemom3717 Thank you for your input 
. I agree completely with your first statement. I think I’ve managed to compile schools that will provide me with the appropriate course offerings, but not necessarily all of these will be environments that I enjoy. As for my reasons: I am not put off by hard-core liberalism, but am put off by hard-core anything that then silences other opinions. I myself am of a strong liberal tilt, but I’d rather have conversations with conservatives than shout at them. The college I am at now is actually too sporty per-se. There is a strong divide between athletes and non athletes: athlete-only parties and so on that are rather pervasive. Not terribly homesick, but assuming I would transfer it wouldn’t hurt to be closer to home to simplify my travel. Most of the colleges on my list would greatly simplify my travel home, minus Williams and Midd. You addressed those and I’m inclined to agree that a larger city might do me well fit-wise. To some extent I’m not sure about the structured versus “go your own way” ethos. If I would go to Brown (or a college that has a similar open curriculum), then I would end up to some extent recreating the “core” at Columbia or UChicago in a sense just by taking a variety of classes in literature/classics/history and so on. What I mean by intellectual and ability to party is along the lines of a school where kids can, over dinner, have intellectual discussions, but then let loose over the weekends. Perhaps the sweet spot is somewhere in between. A school where strong intellectual circles exist, but one that is also not devoid of parties (not necessarily blowout raves, but small-midsized parties). Another caveat to this is that although I’d like the option to attend drinking parties, I’d also prefer there to exist social events outside of drinking. My present college social scene seems to revolve around drinking (not much else to do on weekends). I am not going to be able to revisit prior to deadlines. I visited most of them the first time around. Any help is appreciated.