Seeking college recommendations for progressive intellectual student

My daughter is similar. Here on the west coast I can think of two good options

Reed College in Portland OR: No varsity sports or Greek life. Very intellectual school full of bright quirky kids. Produces some of the highest rates of future PhDs, Rhodes Scholars, Fullbright Scholars, etc. of any liberal arts school in the country. I’m a Reed alum and it might be too intensely academic for some. Expectations are very high. It’s not competitive so much as very intense.

Whitman College in Walla Walla WA: Top liberal arts college that is underrated due to location. More of a traditional school than Reed in that there are varsity sports and Greek life. The somewhat isolated location seems to make the student body much more collaborative and friendly than more urban locations. Students and alums are intensely loyal. We visited with my daughter last weekend and did the tour (campus is mostly virtual but they are still doing tours). My daughter was very impressed with the campus and it went way up on her list. Whitman students seem to be more rounded than Reed students, equally bright but perhaps not so single-mindedly academic. Judging from the Whitman alums I have met, it has the most loyal alumni network of any school I’m aware of.

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