<p>Chicago does give a small number of full-tuition College Honor Scholarships, in addition to about 100 $10K merit grants. (<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/scholarships.shtml[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/scholarships.shtml</a>). </p>
<p>Consolation’s remarks are consistent with our experience. $5K-$10K seems to be typical of merit offers from some of the more selective midwestern LACs. Maybe Grinnell gives more to shy women of science. These merit offers are not necessarily exclusive of need-based offers. The midwestern LACs also tend to run a few thousand cheaper to start with than the northeastern LACs. The top northeastern LACs generally don’t give merit scholarships at all (except Swarthmore, which gives a few to kids from the local area.) </p>
<p>I’d agree that although many LACs are in very rural areas, they are self-contained communities that offer plenty to do right on campus. If you need more, the Philadelphia-area Quaker colleges are in suburban settings with easy rail access to downtown. Then there’s the Amherst area (with its 5 college consortium) or the Claremont Colleges (including Harvey Mudd). Colorado College has an attractive campus in a small city that seems to be quite safe, with Rocky Mountain recreation at hand (in case she likes to hike, bike, ski, or drill for geological core samples in her spare time).</p>