<p>I95 - I dont think uchicagoalum was referring to Claremont McKenna when he recommended Claremont Colleges – Pomona, Harvey Mudd and even Scripps could certainly be called ‘life of the mind’ schools. LA is 40 minutes but that’s do-able. Caltech has a small student body but it was recently rated (used that word instead of ranked ;)) the top research university in the world. </p>
<p>I second Swarthmore and Haverford for intellectual kids and proximity to Philly is what OP wants plus a big boon for students - a short train ride. Vassar less than an hour from NYC. </p>
<p>Really any of the top 30 LAC’s are going to provide a version of the culture OP is looking (minus the service academies and maybe W&L) - he will just have to weed out those in rural settings starting w Carleton, Midd, Grinnell Bowdoin etc.</p>