Which of these wonderful LACs to choose? Advice desperately needed

[merc81]

For a brief, subjective summary of Hamilton in the context of comments on other liberal arts colleges, see this post:

NESCAC Spoken Here:

For comments on Reed, see this post:

Thoughts on Reed College?

Reed in most ways represents the qualities associated with a top-level college education (as one indicator, see first link below). With respect to potential drawbacks and uncertainties, Reed’s curriculum is fairly narrow (e.g., no geosciences department or creative writing concentration) for students who might want to explore widely, and its admission yield is notably low, with 15% of last year’s accepted applicants deciding to attend. Also, Reed’s apparent mission might seem quixotic to students who do not desire a career in academia, in that its professors appear especially to foster students who aspire to become, somewhat recursively, professors. Further in its favor, however, Reed offers superb programs in core academic disciplines such as mathematics, biology, English literature, economics and international studies. Regarding retention, Reed’s first-to-second year rate (88%) falls along a continuum in which it is difficult to draw sharp distinctions. While Reed’s rate lands som…