25 New Ivies

Colby College
Waterville, Maine
Back in 1871, Colby became the first all-male college in New England to admit women. Since then, it's been attracting a diverse group of applicants, including, in the incoming class, from Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Vietnam. That worldliness goes both ways. Seventy percent of students study abroad. Though Colby is small, with a freshman class of about 500, it offers 53 majors. The most popular are economics, biology, English and government. The school lures students who love the outdoors, and it boasts strong programs in the environmental sciences and plenty of opportunity to ski, rock-climb and fish. Overlap schools: Bowdoin, Dartmouth, Middlebury and Bates.

Colgate University
Hamilton, N.Y.
Can't decide between a university and a small liberal-arts college? Colgate has both, in an upstate New York setting that includes a lake and a golf course that Golf Digest rated as one of the top five collegiate courses in the United States. Naturally, the school has a Division I golf team. Colgate is "great for athletes, great for serious students and great for people who want to combine both," says Gary Ross, dean of admission. Despite a relatively small freshman class—about 750 students—Colgate offers an array of academic opportunities. The school runs 24 of its own study-abroad programs, with its own faculty; about 66 percent of the students at some point head for places like Australia, Japan, China and South America. Colgate is also the only college in the United States that offers students the chance to study for a semester for credit at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Students, mainly premeds or science majors, can spend fall or spring at the NIH. Overlap schools: Cornell, Dartmouth, Middlebury and Georgetown.

Davidson College
Davidson, N.C.
This private liberal-arts college of 1,600 has benefited from a recent surge in interest. Last year, 3,900 students applied for the class of 2010; only 30 percent were accepted. A decade earlier, admissions officers were sifting through about 2,800 applications. "We look, feel, sound like a New England liberal-arts college—but we're in North Carolina," says Christopher Gruber, dean of admission and financial aid. About a third of students are from the Southeast. The most popular majors are biology, economics, English, history and political science. Students can also concentrate in a particular area within a major—for example, biology with a concentration in medical humanities. Overlap schools: University of North Carolina, Duke, University of Virginia, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Rice, Boston College, Pomona, Stanford and the Ivies.

Emory University
Atlanta, Ga.
In 2005, applications to Emory climbed 18.5 percent from the previous year and came from all 50 states, proving that the school had surpassed its reputation as only an excellent regional school. Students often cite Emory's Atlanta location, which makes it easy to get internships and jobs, as well as to cross-register with the other colleges in the area. But as a major university, Emory has plenty to keep students busy on their own campus. Some students start at Oxford College, Emory's smaller two-year division, and then continue on to "big Emory" for their junior and senior years. Oxford has just 650 students and its own faculty. Overlap schools: Duke, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, University of Georgia, University of Virginia and University of North Carolina.

Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio
Kenyon "has shifted from a backup school to a first choice," says Jennifer Delahunty Britz, dean of admission and financial aid. "We tend to get very intellectually diverse kids—students who want to major in biology and English." Although the school is intellectually rigorous, students say its atmosphere encourages collaboration rather than competitiveness. The student-faculty ratio is just 9 to 1, and the average class has only 14 students. Many faculty live within a bike ride of campus, which further encourages a sense of community. Kenyon is often called a writer's college, and graduates include "Seabiscuit" author Laura Hillenbrand and E. L. Doctorow. Students can stay fit in a $70 million athletic center that opened in January.

Macalester College
St. Paul, Minn.
Macalester students are passionate about academics, politics and extracurriculars, says Lorne Robinson, dean of admissions and financial aid. Being in St. Paul helps. Most small liberal-arts colleges tend to be in rural areas or small towns. Macalester's 1,840 students—all undergraduates—come from 80 countries and all 50 states. Despite its size, Macalester's catalog lists 750 courses. The most popular majors: political science, economics and biology.