<p>I don’t understand why so many suggestions in this thread completely ignore the OP’s merit aid, size and location requirements. </p>
<p>She sounds like a great candidate for a midwestern or northeastern LAC in a small city or large town where there is a supportive community of smart kids. The ones I know best that would be very good choices for such a kid, and which might very well offer her merit aid, are Lawrence, Beloit and Kalamazoo. Lawrence is probably tops on the music side, even for a non music major. The student body gets along great, the science facilities are excellent for a LAC, and Appleton is a very pretty, very safe town that’s not “the middle of nowhere.”</p>