@citymama9 , it can be hard to mix the kind of down-to-earth, small school you want with football and a Greek scene.
I would consider looking into Tufts. It has a more relaxed and friendly vibe than other schools of its caliber.
The other thing you might want to consider is Catholic colleges, such as Stonehill in MA and Providence College in MA.
Does your student have any particular academic interests at this point?
I’ll second the U Rochester suggestion. It’s bigger than an LAC, but otherwise meets your criteria. My D and I only spent one day one campus, but D felt strongly that the students were genuine and down to earth.
How about Goucher?
Dickinson in PA –
@Consolation Thanks! The only thing we can probably rule out at this point is that D will never major in engineering or any STEM fields. Everything else is a possibilty. She is currently thinking about what she would enjoy doing one day that also will pay well. She still has lots of time. In the meantime, you make an interesting point about finding a down-to-earth school that is also very spirited, has Greek life and a football team. I can envision my D at a place like Kenyon or Wooster, and she envisions herself at a place like Vanderbilt or Tulane. When the time gets closer, I think she will realize that she always is happiest in smaller and cozier environments. So… I’m looking for a combination of all the above schools.
Thanks for all the responses. Everyone is so helpul!!
@Dustyfeathers She would hate Goucher, unfortunately. She wants nothing to do with schools that are made up of mostly girls and creative types.(even though she’s a girl and a creative type!) LOL She’s looking for the opposite of her HS
@citymama9 agree that Centenary doesn’t make one lick of sense for a kid considering CofW.
Curious about why football? Is it because she likes watching the sport or because of the school spirit it brings? There might be more ideas of east coast colleges if she is open to ones big in other sports like basketball.
@mom2twogirls My D goes to a performing arts school in a city. There is no football team and the school is 75% girls. She wishes we were living in the burbs and that she was at a school with a football team, pep rallies, homecoming, cheerleading and all that kind of stuff. It’s one of those “the grass is always greener” situations. She told me last night she wants two things more than anything else in a college: she wants to be in a sorority and she wants to be with really smart kids who can have deep conversations…
The state of Kentucky has several liberal arts colleges that aren’t often mentioned on this site, but might be worth a look: Centre, Transylvania, Georgetown, & Berea.
Ohio seems to have a bunch too.
@moooop Funny that you mention Kentucky. I always say the friendliest state I have ever visited was Kentucky. The people, and I mean everyone we talked to was beyond nice and pleasant
Ok @citymama9 then try taking her to some schools that have big basketball programs too. I think she will still get to kind of atmosphere she is looking for. Maybe even some that are big in other sports (hockey, for example) might have some of that. If it were me, I think I would visit a few that have at least some of what she is talking about, even if not all. Just an example, there are some small private catholic colleges like St. Bonaventure, Canisus, Niagara that have the kind of kids and school spirit you are talking about, but they don’t have the Greek life. If she visits on a game day, she might get an idea of which parts matter as much, KWIM?
Also, Cornell University might be another reach type school that has a lot of what she is looking for, except hockey is their big rah-rah sport.
@citymama9, I’m going to recommend Dartmouth, based on her two criteria. (Full disclosure: my S is an alum.)
Obviously, it is difficult to get into, as is Tufts. I have no idea of whether they are realistic choices for her, since we have no idea of her stats. If you would provide that information, it would be easier to make realistic recommendations. 
I was also thinking about Cornell.
Coming back to second St Lawrence in upstate NY. D1 hockey program is hugely popular among students, with some fierce rivalries. Has greek life but doesn’t dominate. All the kids my kid met were good, decent people, no pretensions.
I’d put Dickinson and Denison in the same category – popular support for sports without creating a tiered-social life of athletes vs. the rest of the student body, greek life but does not dominate, down to earth kids (at least by my definition).
Pitt may be too big, but has friendly students, great academics, greek life and football
Does she have the stats for some of these suggestions?
And I have to say this: put any two posters together and you can get two different opinions on colleges. My take on Hamilton wasn’t so “down to earth,” but it’s from 7 years ago, when aid was different. I’d list Clarke (MA) for nice, empowered kids. A couple of girls I know who went to Dickinson were distinctly into show. But a friend’s daughter loved the place and is the definition of laid back.
You know, they don’t usually carry around expensive purses en route to class.
@Consolation around a 95 avg, but no test scores yet. Dartmouth does sound like a great fit, but the acceptance rate is daunting.
I don’t think you mentioned which state, but some public schools might also work well, especially as safety and match type schools. I have friends and family who went to SUNY Geneseo, for example, and the atmosphere and Greek life sound like your daughter is looking for. They do have sports, not a big name team but probably enough for the fun your daughter is looking for. Most state schools have honors programs as well that would give her the group of high ability peers she is looking for,
UNC Wilmington is one of the more down-to-earth campuses in the nation. Decent Greek Life, nothing too crazy by any means. Very good sports for a mid-major school, particularly basketball. 10 minutes from the beach. It’s loads of fun to attend. Honors College is excellent as well.
@mom2twogirls thank you. we live in NY. I went to a SUNY for undergrad, and I have a real bias against them, but I can see having Geneseo on the list when the time comes. You never know if the stock market will crash lol, and of all the SUNYs it seems the most appealing. A couple of state schools that have caught my eye are Miami Univ in Ohio and Purdue, maybe Wisconsin, but the downsides are the large lecture halls and being a number. I do like the honor’s college aspect though. It supposedly makes a big school feel smaller. @LBad96 Thank you. UNC Wilmington seems like a good choice, especially if D decides to major in film. They are supposed to be very good for that from what I hear. What’s it like for an Out of Stater? Do lots of NC kids go home on the weekends? Is it harder to join a sorority if you don’t know people from HS?