@ClarinetDad16 Both. Whatever he qualifies for.
How much merit aid needed? 1/2 tuition? Full tuition? If it is only half, that opens up many possibilities at LACs ranked lower than Kenyon/Oberlin. My own kid’s list was entirely match and safeties because we needed significant ($20k+) merit. With well-rounded academic, arts and sports portfolio, he received 1/2 tuition merit from schools ranging from Knox, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Wooster, Denison. Other schools with good merit include Centre and Dickinson. Basically, an applicant at those schools needs to be in top 25% and demonstrate interest to be good merit aid candidate.
So, research common data set and websites of schools an applicant is interested in to learn whether, and how much, merit aid is awarded. Look at the stats range for test scores and gpas on common data set to see what the top 25% looks like. Don’t waste time on schools that don’t award merit aid, like NESCAC schools, Franklin & Marshall and Ivy League. Realize that a hyper competitive scholarship is a high risk strategy are chances are low your student will get it.
“OP, if you are truly interested in competitive academic awards, you will get increasingly better results as you move lower in college selectivity. This is the strategy my son will be using this fall. With his “above average” stats and EC’s he will not get merit-aid from a top tier school - he just wont. But he has a very good chance of getting money from middle-tier and lower-tier schools where he will also have a very good chance of succeeding and thriving.”
Yep. This. Get over the lie that you can never be happy if you don’t go to an Ivy League or one of their peer schools, and you’ll find yourself with lots of middle and lower tier, more affordable, merit-scholarship-awarding schools.