<p>hey everyone, i'm going to be a senior this year and i have some colleges i'm looking at, but i was wondering if anyone could give me some other suggestions. i want a school thats small, but not smaller than my hs (1200), thats not crazy with parties, but has a nice social scene, and has good academics. I'm looking at LACs but also some state schools with good honors programs. I would especially be thankful for any suggestions about colleges that would give money. Also, I'm looking at schools in the New England/Mid-Atlantic Region. </p>
<p>SATs: 710 math 730 cr 750 w
SAT IIs: 760 us 700 bio m
GPA: freshman - 4.19 sophomore - 4.3 junior - 4.6</p>
<p>I have plenty of activities and also have won some writing contests. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for all of your input/help, it is greatly appreciated =]</p>
<p>Check out Grinnell in Iowa, a LAC with 1,600 students. S had comparable stats and received generous merit aid, as did several friends of his. Grinnell has a tremendous endowment and uses it to create a high quality of life for the students and offers a lot of merit aid. He loved his freshman year and can’t wait to go back. Superb acadmics with amazing mentoring from the faculty, and a quirky student body that is unpretentious and welcoming. They also have no distribution requirements. But it is very rural and therefore, inwardly focused. Des Moines and Iowa City are an hour away, but if you aren’t happy in a rural location, you won’t enjoy it. </p>
<p>Schools that give generous merit and financial aid to high achieving students generally are using their money to buy diversity in some form-geographic, racial, socio economic, etc…Grinnell is part of this cadre.</p>