@penngirlpending Usually MBA programs prefer that you have post-college job experience, instead of applying for the MBA right out of undergrad. Thus, focusing on a major and a college where you will get a good job when you graduate is important. All of the LACs mentioned above would be great for job and MBA resumes. But, many universities also have strong liberal arts and Economics Departments, and many have business schools, as you mentioned - Emory, BC. Other good undergrad B-schools incl UVA, Notre Dame, UNC, Wash U, Cornell, Michigan, Penn, USC, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, etc. You might not ever need to spend money on an MBA if you graduated from BC, Emory, or one of these others!
And, if you are concerned about size, some universities with decent Econ Departments are not that big - like Emory & Lehigh, but also William & Mary, Duke, Princeton, Dartmouth, Tulane, etc. I don’t know as much about the smaller “safety” LACs, as my sons both focused on colleges that have engineering. But, I was an Econ major back in the day, and both my husband and I have MBAs, and many of our sons’ friends are Econ or business majors, so I can relate to your interests.
One thing I remember about my MBA program at Duke is that the school seemed intrigued by kids who were not necessarily all Econ or undergrad business majors working on Wall Street. They kind of liked the interesting kid who was a Philosophy major who wrote a book after college, or a Political Science major who worked for a Congressman, or a Chemistry major who worked for a chemical company, or a Math major who went into the military, or an English major who became a teacher and wanted a career change, etc. I don’t know if that’s true any more, but it would be interesting to ask around, just in case you decide on a different major but still want to keep your options open for an MBA later. Regardless, it would be good to take some Econ, Stats, and/or other business classes in college anyway, to make sure you like them, before jumping into an MBA later.
Good luck!