Mount Holyoke, Franklin& Marshall, Reed or Kenyon?

This is simply untrue. You have great results. ALL of those colleges are excellent, particularly Kenyon, which is easily on par with Smith.

The obvious outlier is F&M. It is much more mainstream and Greek-y than the others and is VERY far in feel from a school like Reed.

Kenyon, IMO, offers the best of all worlds, but it is fair to say that it’s a bit isolated, albeit not that far from Columbus.

MHC is great, but please don’t make the mistake that so many make by thinking you can just transfer out to another college before you even start. This will stop you from settling in properly and forming friendships. The Mass consortium is not super practical to get around if you are thinking you can just zip between campuses.

Reed is, as I summarized in another post, for those who want to experience the “life of the mind” at college. It’s very rigorous, academic, and probably a bit more on the intense side. If you are really interested, visit if possible. Portland is a great city.

I’d say F & M is not quite as rigorous academically as the others, and the vibe is really different to the others. It is definitely going to be the most mainstream of these four schools.

You don’t mention what sort of vibe you are looking for. As you really wanted Smith, I think MHC is a very good choice, but I think Kenyon is overall the best of these choices. It will have elements of all, with great professors, a good creative edge, a bit of sportiness, top notch academics and outstanding beauty.

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