St Louis is a fantastic location, and Wash U bigger socially than the two LACs and Rice . Sports, restaurants, the Mississippi River front, Forest Park, and fantastic social sciences at Wash U, I would choose that school over all the other four, for social, academic and location. St. Louis has a younger vibe than it used to.
LACs are sometimes difficult to socialize at because everyone is so intensely focused on academics, and everyone knows everyone else, so its so small, there is no feeling of privacy. Williamstown is small and some students suffer there very silently. One of my relatives tried to transfer out of Williams and was unsuccessful. This student did not adjust to Williamstown, and took buses to Boston to get away from it. This student also started to find other places to go over January, since Williams has a 4-1-4 calendar, you don’t have to stay there in January. Also study abroad helped this student get through the long four years at Williams. Its very athletic at Williams. This student was not athletic, and was fooled by the campus tour. Now this student will move to a city and knows him/herself better. Its a growing up experience to be in isolated Williamstown for 4 years, and having to struggle with that location for some.