@qwerty568 Attending Bama would not be a culture shock, not even for someone from the NE. lol
Unless the student would be shocked by friendly people and better weather, there would be no shock. 
@chris3499 <<In addition to fantastic financial aid/low total cost per year (preferably <20k anually, after financial aid) <<<
You really need your net cost to be well below $20k.
@mom2collegekids Better is always relative…I actually love having four seasons. And, yes, from New England, it would be a very different experience both in good and bad ways!
Temple has great merit. And you could get there easily on public transport.
@momrath the calculators always seem to expect my parents to contribute ~10k, but they’re only going to be contributing more like 2k, so there’s an 8k loan right off the bat.
Would not at all mind Alabama, but I would like it if they offered scholarships in addition to the full tuition, bc transportation is going to be pricey, even with my parents helping.
And yes, temple does have a guaranteed full ride scholarship, so that is definitely one to consider.
@chris3499, If need based aid doesn’t work for your family, then Hamilton and other need-only schools shouldn’t be on your list. If, on the other hand, you’re willing to assume loans for some schools, but not others, then consider some of the other NESCAC schools that are similar to Hamilton.
Union belongs on your radar. (D1 in hockey only, I believe.)
Holy Cross
Hamilton is hard college to get to in but if you have good test score it should not be to hard to get in
Why not try Colby or Bates they not very hard to get into
in fact maybe try going for college of wooster my daughter clooked into that and she did like it allot but did not a ply in the end
Colby, Hamilton and Bates are all very hard to get into. For the past several years their admit rate has been between 25 and 30 percent. And it’s trending lower. To get into these, or any NESCAC school, you better have a lot more going for you than good test scores.