<p>I’ve known St. Johns well for many years. I had a daughter who attended (and graduated from) Reed. I have a daughter currently at Shimer. My daughter who went to Reed wishes she had gone to Shimer, which may tell you something. Not that Reed was bad–she got a great education. But she would not do it again. Since you are interested in graduate school, you might note that over 50% of Shimer grads go on to graduate school, and over 20% receive doctoral degrees, which is higher than any college or university in the country except two technical intitutions (Harvey Mudd and Cal Poly). St. Johns is certainly a very good choice, but I do understand the financil considerations. Shimer is much cheaper and gives a pretty fair amount of financial aid. My daughter at Shimer receives about 20% of her costs in financial aid, which is not a lot, but we are hardly poor (nor rich). My daughter who went to Reed, a far more expensive school, never received a penny in financial aid.</p>