<p>As a parent, I would recommend identifying a range of schools that are academic and financial safeties, matches and reaches rather than focus in on a single school because it says it meets 100% need. Remember, that is “need” as defined by the school, not as defined by the family. By way of example, we think we can only afford 15k per year for our son, but schools look at our financial situation and say we are full-pay. They define our need as 0 so don’t need to provide any financial aid. Just because we feel like we have “need” does not mean we do in the eyes of the financial aid office. </p>
<p>So take a big step back. For many students, the in-state public university is a financial and academic safety – I gather that would be Penn State for you. Is there merit money for in-state students with certain gpas etc at Penn State? I always get confused whether U Pitt is public or private – if public, again, is that an option for you? Are there Honors College or Honors programs within the big instate school that would create a smaller learning environment, as you say you want 10,000 or fewer students. You should research whether those in-state, public schools are affordable for you and whether you meet their admissions standards. If so, you may have your academic/financial safety.</p>
<p>Then you want to figure out schools where you are at the top end of admission standards and they give merit money. Dickinson may be a possibility; also, if you are female, consider some of the single sex schools such as Bryn Mawr, Mt Holyoke, maybe Agnes Scott in Atlanta. Other mid-range smaller liberal arts schools could include Trinity College in Hartford, Skidmore College, Connecticut College. If you are willing to go to the midwest, that adds Earlham (Quaker school in Indiana), College of Wooster, Denison in Ohio, Kalamazoo in Michigan. You can go on to each school’s website, search for “common data set” and that pulls up the annual report which includes admission info – what percentage of incoming class has what gpa and test score range. If your scores put you solidly in the top 10-25%, you may be eligible for merit money. If you are in the middle or bottom, it is a reach. </p>
<p>The top 20-30 liberal arts colleges are, in my mind, not matches for any student because the admissions decisions can be so unpredicabtable. A strong student may be denied and a student with “lesser” credentials admitted, and who can tell what will happen in advance. So schools like Haverford, Bowdoin, even Colby, are too hard to predict and I would recommend seeing them as reaches, no matter where your stats might put you. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>