Bucolic & Smart

Rankings

If you’re looking for that elite academic institution nestled in the beautiful middle of nowhere (or easily accessible to the middle of nowhere), this is a good start.

1. Williams College
2. Middlebury College
3. Swarthmore College
4. Pomona College
5. Amherst College
6. Dartmouth College
7. Cornell University
8. Smith College
9. Washington and Lee University
10. Carleton College
11. Connecticut College
12. Claremont McKenna College
13. Bowdoin College
14. Colorado College
15. Colby College
16. Harvey Mudd College
17. St. Olaf College
18. College of William and Mary
19. Bard College
20. Mount Holyoke College
21. Scripps College
22. Wellesley College
23. Vassar College
24. University of Virginia, Charlottesville
25. Pitzer College
26. U.S. Air Force Academy
27. Hampshire College
28. Princeton University
29. Furman University
30. University of California, Santa Barbara
31. Pepperdine University
32. St. John’s University, Maryland
33. University of California, Santa Cruz
34. Whitman College
35. Westmont College
36. St. Lawrence University
37. Bates College
38. Oberlin College
39. Davidson College
40. Ithaca College

This ranking requires a location in a small town or college town with easy access to outdoor activities. Within that requirement, schools are ranked with heavy weight to the degree of said access, but also including equal weights to PhD production, Fulbright production, the Wall Street Journal Feeder School ranking, and the SAT ranking.