I agree OP’s S should apply to Dickinson and should negotiate merit aid, because it could work out and get to $35K or less COA.
But, the 2020-21 CDS shows that of the 594 Dickinson undergrad students who don’t have financial need, only 46% (276) received merit (H2A). The average of that merit was $15,259.
The other troubling thing with Dickinson is that the CDS generally show higher average merit for entering first years as compared to total undergrad averages…which means merit aid decreases post-first year.
This is an important question to ask when ‘negotiating’ first year merit…if it isn’t guaranteed to stay around that level for years 2 through 4 that’s an important fact to know.