I’m glad it worked out well in the end for your daughter! These are definitely the kinds of questions that spin around in my brain (I’m not the OP, but have a similarly situated kid.). We need some amount of merit, but I do want my kids to be challenged.
If you have suggestions that would fit those parameters - schools that are more challenging, but offer merit to get COA ~ $50,000, I would appreciate those. At my kid’s high school, it appears that Wake Forest is stingy on merit. Not many kids from our school apply to Davidson, so I don’t know as much about merit there. (I believe those were ones you suggested earlier). If you have any other suggestions, that would be great!
While we loved St. Olaf, to me it feels way smaller than Denver and Elon. While Denver and Elon talk about community a lot, St. Olaf oozes community. It’s so cozy.
Going to second Furman, Butler, Gonzaga, and throw in Creighton, U of Tulsa, and U of San Diego. My 3.7 GPA kid got excellent merit from all (didn’t apply to USD) and is attending Trinity U also with good merit.
ETA I have also heard concerns about crime around Rhodes lately.
I should add that my D22’s GPA was weighted. Might’ve been a 3,8 instead of a 3.7 but that was weighted. She took 3 AP classes. I think it was maybe 3.5/3.6 UW. Her school didn’t report that so I’d have to do the math on it.
Elon’s 75th percentile SAT is just 1330 and the ACT 75th percentile is 30. Your D should easily get in there. 20% of kids were in the top 10% of their high school class. If I did my math right (and there’s more than a decent chance I didn’t) the admit rate is 69%. I’d view it as an academic safety.
I don’t know about the merit money on these (my D22 didn’t apply to any of them) but might be worth looking into Denison, Kenyon, Bucknell, Whitman, Skidmore, Sewanee, maybe U Rochester or Emory.
I agree that Creighton, University of Tulsa, and St. Olaf are all worth looking into. One other school would be University of St. Thomas. It is a similar size as Elon and University of Denver. It’s located in a cute residential neighborhood in St. Paul, MN. Gorgeous campus. Location is good for internships. Good study abroad. I know a number of St. Thomas psychology grads, and they were well prepared for grad school. There is open enrollment with other schools in the area including Macalester. St. Thomas is looking to increase its national draw and reputation, so I imagine that a strong student like your daughter would receive excellent merit. It would make a great safety.
@AustenNut had Jesuit colleges in their list, it may be worth it to look at the entire Jesuit college list. Most of them are that middle size, which is kind of hard to find, and will be strong on community like Denver and Elon. Both of my kids with lower stats that your student received good merit from Jesuit schools (LMU, where my daughter attended, but COA is high, and Loyola of Chicago, which was my son’s second choice after Elon where he attended).
D21 is at Elon. We both really liked University of Denver too!
I want to chime in about being too high stats for Elon. First of all, they have several programs with separate applications that give additional merit and other perks like special classes and educational trips. Your kid could be a big fish in a medium sized pond!
I have a senior at Elon and a sophomore at Denver so if you have any questions about either let me know. I would say Elon has more of a "preppy/Lululemon " vibe than Denver. My D at Elon is definitely not preppy so it took her a bit to find her people. Denver has a much more outsdoorsy vibe (Patagonia, socks & birkenstocks, etc). Also seems like many more liberal & LBGTQ kids but also plenty of fraternity and sporty kids as well. Just got back from moving my son into Denver and the kids are all so friendly. And there is so much to do in the area. Have you visited both? Both campuses are gorgeous but Denver is a bit rougher aroud the edges in terms of surrounding neighborhoods. I love both schools but Denver just seems to have so much to offer.
Other schools that felt similar to us were Miami Ohio, Clemson, and University of Dayton. Friendly kids, casual vibe, and beautiful campuses. Providence College also has a similar vibe but has a lot of kids from the northeast.