What’s he looking for in Jewish life - maybe I can throw out some ideas. I’ve been through this rodeo - both kids - although if you’re looking for an LAC, we just looked at W&L - surprisingly impressive.
My daughter is at College of Charleston - also very impressive. She chose it over W&L. Well dad chose it over W&L full pay at $80K+ 
But they (W&L) have the Johnson Scholar for a full ride and secondarily the Weinstein which is full tuition for a Jewish student. We went in with trepidation but were wowed.
College of Charleston has been impressive in Jewish life. It’s, according to them, the only public school with a Hillel on campus - so the HIllel staff is part of the school. At public schools, it’s always adjacent. They have tons of Jews at Charleston - 800 to 1000 of 10000 and it’s considered a public LAC although it’s obviously a few notches below a Swat / Wesleyan. Their merit is solid though - our scholarship is $5K more than tuition.
Anyway, you have lots of time - if you’re interested in a Haverford or Princeton/Penn type thing, you’d be close enough - I’d go check out Swat and Wesleyan (if you’re in NYC/New England)- and get the real scoop - in person!!!
Good luck.