For students who want to get an enlightening liberal arts or science education in a small, intimate environment, liberal arts colleges are a great choice. Mixing small class sizes and the ability to have a social life with outstanding academic reputations, these colleges are a perfect match for many students.

At Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, you get an Ivy League education without the competitiveness and total devotion to working. Though quite selective—only a quarter of students who apply are admitted—the low admission rate is a product of its relatively small size of 1,466 students rather than a cutthroat environment.

At Wesleyan University in Connecticut, the diversity of education and students is critical. Larger than other liberal arts colleges, it still accentuates academic excellence with cooperation instead of competition. Wesleyan offers a huge diversity of studies, including rarer topics such as East Asian Studies. The student to teacher ratio is nine to one, so students maintain the intimate relationships with professors. Acceptance rate is around 28 percent.

—Boris Burkov

In an aggressive educational area like Palo Alto, community colleges are frequently overlooked However, beneath all the competition for prestigious universities lie some fantastic community colleges with lots of potential to provide solid educations for many young people.

Most well known is Foothill College, with a main college located in Los Altos Hills, and a second campus located on Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Foothill offers a variety of courses ranging from Current Event Analysis to Java for Programming. It also offers common classes for different levels of mathematics, science, English, physical fitness and social studies. International students have found a niche in Foothill as well.

West Valley is another college that excels in educating young individuals. Just like Foothill, this college offers a gamut of courses and has more athletic teams including cross-country and diving.

—Sasha Guttentag

For those students who have indeed been inspired by art and are interested in pursuing it in further, both Rhode Island School of Design and Parsons College are excellent options.

RISD is a private art school located in Providence, Rhode Island. Students who wish to explore art in detail and focus on their artistic talents should apply here. An extremely selective and highly competitive school, RISD’s strongest areas are in design and illustration. It also offers strong networking sources and cross registration with Brown. However, Brown runs on a semester schedule and RISD runs on a semester schedule. RISD also has an international exchange program in place.

Parsons, a private school in New York, is appropriate for those interested in fashion design. Parsons works with Columbia University’s Business School. Students at Parsons take part in many events, including fashion shows and museum exhibits. High School students can attend the Parsons Pre-College Academy, which offers classes ranging from drawing to interior design.

—Fi Kazi