@warblersrule : Not sure if you realize that Northwestern is on the quarter system; accordingly, the units referred to in your post are quarter units, not semester units.
Agree that to a certain extent one can find an LAC type environment at Northwestern while enjoying the benefits & resources of a national university. Probably easiest to do so in SESP & Medill & the music school. Double or triple majoring would normally be done with a major or majors in Weinberg.
While OP would enjoy small classes at Northwestern, he may not find the tight knit community he has in mind as all undergraduate schools at Northwestern are on a sizable campus with approximately 8,100 other undergraduates & thousands of graduate students. Compared to 2,050 student Carleton College which is in a small community, tight knit seems to be a more apt description for Carleton–especially in OP’s view.
Based on OP’s post starting this thread, he does not seem ready for a university setting and, most importantly, OP feels the same as his concerns are leading him to the LAC rather than the national university despite the acknowledged status of Medill.