Sure she had 1550 SAT, 3.98 UW and 4.7W. Lots of music ECs. She applied to Lincoln Center campus. We were pretty surprised with the merit. She applied EA.
@Veryapparent: Did Fordham offer affordable housing in the area ? If so, that is like getting a second scholarship.
Fordham is a good option. I received a 27k a year merit scholarship at Rose Hill.
Yes it included guaranteed housing for 4 years.
Jackpot !
@gallentjill - Bard doesn’t give merit (correction – it gives merit but it’s also based on need “All Bard College scholarships are need based”) and I don’t think that Fordham is the best environment for a “nerdy” girl. Also no merit at St. John’s.
If you want to stay in the northeast, you may be limiting some of your merit options. The best merit aid will come probably from the schools in the midwest (Grinnell, Kenyon, Oberlin, St. Olaf, Macalester, Earlham) and in the south, although some women’s colleges and LACs in the northeast do offer merit.
I second New College of Florida as an undiscovered and affordable gem. And SUNYs are obviously going to be easier on the pocketbook than many private schools.
@lovethebard Thanks. You are probably right about merit being limited here. Muhlenberg, Drew and the Sunys seem like reasonable options. The schools in the midwest are really appealing but I don’t know if we can consider them. What do you all think of Umass Amherst and Uconn as possibilities? We toured Umass and D liked it a great deal. I have heard it has a party atmosphere, but we actually ran into a ton of nerdy kids.
I have not read the whole thread, but would make sure that Denison and Dickinson are in the mix.
Good luck!
I wouldn’t expect a whole lot of merit from UMass Amherst, but the COA for OOS is still lower than many privates. Given that most of the merit is in the $5 - $6K a year, it probably won’t make a huge dent. I can’t speak to UConn.
There’s a world of difference between a large public and a small private research uni or an LAC – most of the other schools talked about here include the latter two. Which is your D looking for?
Brandeis might be a nice option.
@lovethebard I don’t think she has a size preference yet. So far she liked the feel of Umass best of the few we have already seen.
If she likes U Mass Amherst, she might explore the other Five College Consortium members (Smith, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and Amherst) to see if the consortium makes U Mass an even better choice, OR if one of the other schools works better, and she’d still have a connection to U Mass. It would also provide a nice contrast between smaller LACs and a larger (but not huge) state flagship.
We know a student at U Mass Amherst who loves it and is very connected to the Smith College community.
Both Amherst and Northampton are nice towns. Did you see that the Eric Carle Museum (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) is in Amherst? And Look Park in Northampton is nice.
I agree that Grinnell would be a great choice if she received generous aid, which certainly seems possible. Good luck, and have fun with the process.
@TTG, I didn’t see the museum but will look for it when we visit again. We did note that there is a cracker barrel near by. Always a plus!
What goes together better than waffles and art?
I actually came back here because, on my drive home, I realized that if she wants a mid-size to largish school, UMass Amherst would be a good fit. Lots of nerdy kids on campus, next to no Greek scene, and you don’t need to be into sports (or anything in particular) to have a good social life there. They used to have their own sci fi type con on campus, not sure if they still do. Strong science programs, good theater scene that is open to non-majors.
BTW, with all the excellent and fun restaurants in the Amherst/Northampton area, you won’t need Cracker Barrel. 
@RoaringMice Thanks! She loved it when she visited. Its nice to have some validation that it wasn’t a fluke.
My wife literally grew up on Bard’s campus, but my twin Ds thought the school was way too remote. Visited New Palz and were thoroughly unimpressed - the asbestos removal effort we walked past was quite the turnoff (summer visit). Everyone was nice but the place lacked energy. Marist is on the opposite side of the Hudson and has beautiful views. Merit offer wasn’t enough to justify the cold or extra distance from outside Philly.
We’re waiting to hear from Muhlenberg in two days, but both Ds really loved it (majestic architecture, friendly students and faculty). They’re into English and Art, but pre-med seemed to be a prominent focus. Alternatively, they already have ~$30k merit offers from Susquehanna, Ursinus, and Moravian (for graphic design). Susquehanna has a great attitude about learning and readying kids for what’s coming next, and make it easy to study abroad - it’s required (more or less). It’s also really easy to double or triple major there. But the town it’s in is downright depressing, and the buildings aren’t particularly awe-inspiring.
Ursinus is near the top for both of them, and their Gateway scholarship is $30k/year (automatic) for 27 ACT or 1220 SAT. I guess they decided to make it affordable for good students that aren’t necessarily needy. We met the President and a couple of deans on our tour - very welcoming and personable. Ds picked up on the vibe right away. Again enough pre-meds around to foster what I’ll call collaborative competition (sans competition for my non-science Ds).
One D also accepted to Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg and Dickinson, but hard to justify all that $$ when grad school is likely anyway. Everyone liked Dickinson the best of those - very cute town well integrated with college, and a lot of happy people there during the family weekend when we visited.
By the way, my Ds are self-proclaimed nerds that play D&D with their friends, very liberal and aren’t into sports or Greek life.
The Five Colleges could be good for her. Mount Holyoke looks expensive but gives surprisingly good merit awards to nerdy girls 
and has great science programs. Smith gives merit if she has top-notch scores & grades – I think most of their big merit awards go to STEM majors, and they come with funded research opportunities so that could be good for her. UMass is the big-school option and probably less $$ (also, reportedly, the best food). Amherst is a bit stark and very hard to get into, super prestigious but I don’t know much about their science programs. Hampshire is very different, if she is very self-directed in science she might like it. I think UMass is the only school in the consortium that has greeks at all, and even there it’s not a big deal. It’s easy enough to tour all of them in one visit (but probably not in one day). We looked at them all; D is at Smith and loves the school and Northampton.
@RandyErika Thanks so much for that very helpful and thoughtful post! We recently toured Muhlenberg and D loved it. It truly seems like the perfect place for her. We will definitely look into Ursinus. I had never heard of it before it was recommended here, but it also looks like a wonderful fit. They seem to put a real emphasis on advising, which I love.
@pauler80020 I also think the consortium might be good for her. She is not interested in an all girls school, but we toured UMass and she loved it. I wonder if its a little big and that she might get lost in the crowed without the hands on advising of a small LAC, but its definitely high on the list.
My D found her “nerd tribe” at Skidmore, she is a Math/CS double major. The school attracts more theatre/arts students than STEM students but they have provided her with a great education in her three years so far. I would also consider Dickinson and MoHo (all female).