These are the exact schools I was going to recommend. Rochester is wonderful. Dickinson very big on sustainability etc. If her M+CR score is 1350 or better she’ll be up for merit $$. Top is $20k I think. You might also look at Wake Forest. Consider applying to a mix of big u / honors and LACs. She may change her mind again and nice to have options.
I think a lot of people change preferences when they start visiting. Visit some research uni’s and see what she thinks. Both are good for the right kids.
Others have mentioned some of these schools, for someone interested in environmental science and looking for a LAC that is not overly crunchy or preppy, take a look at:
Bates
Bowdoin
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Dickinson
Whitman
St. Lawrence
A little more preppy IMO: Colby, Middlebury
Don’t want to do a deep dive on finances, as that was not the intent of the original post. St. Lawrence and Dickinson sound promising. I would have thought they would be matches, but I see that her SATs are above their 75th percentile, so perhaps they would give her some merit. Hadn’t considered Dickinson, as they are often mentioned in the same breath as Gettysburg (which she really disliked), but perhaps that’s just because of proximity?
Rochester sounds like a great middle ground between an LAC and a research university, but I doubt her credentials would wow them.Panicking right now, as we can do some additional campus visits this summer to check off the “demonstrated interest” box at some LACs, but whether at an LAC or a larger school, it will be very hard to get a sense of “fit” on a depopulated campus, and she really needs to know by September where she’ll apply. May well have to go the route suggested by @4Gulls and apply to a mix of both to buy time, and sort things out later.
You can always visit later.
I’d suggest Beloit and Macalester as well among some fine suggestions (like Grinnell and Kenyon) above. But people may want to correct me on the culture at those schools.
Howver, finances have to be a consideration even if you don’t want them to be.
Having to pay only $45K total is probably doable at those schools above. If you can only pay $20K, that may happen, but probably is unlikely at those schools but possible at schools like Augustana.
And yes, some honors colleges aren’t all that. I’d still take in to heavy consideration the overall environment of a big school.
BTW, she may have a shot at big merit at Emory/UMiami/Tulane (fit is a different issue; other people would have to comment on that).
To clarify, I’m well aware of the importance of finances, and intimately familiar with my own circumstances. It’s just that that’s not what I’m asking about on this thread.
Dickinson is a nice intown campus in a tidy little PA town. Little shops and cafes across the street from campus. Ice cream and pizza on the way to the stadium. Very nice place. I took my son to visit and he liked it. It is not preppy like Gettysburg but it has a definite upscale student body.
St. Lawrence is upstate NY far away from that influence. Outdoorsy students but not hippies. SL has merit aid up to full tuition.
@rrobb - Both my kids passed on Gettysburg but liked Dickinson so give it a look as I think your daughter would get some merit money 
I would think your D’s credentials would be right in line with Rochester and likely to get some merit. My S (ACT 32, UW 3.9, W 4.5 and pretty minimal ECs,) is considering URoc for ED. I would also say Case Western that others have mentioned is a nice University that gives out merit aid. We are local to CWRU and were very impressed when we went on the tour. It’s in a vibrant area of Cleveland full of cultural organizations that has really improved over the last 20-30 years. Also, although CWRU is known for STEM, you can get solid education in the humanities, arts, etc. there.
My D is at Bucknell (and loves it) but I understand exactly the vibe your D is looking to avoid. Both Rochester and CWRU seemed to have fairly diverse student body and a less preppy vibe than Bucknell.
Also, I agree with someone who mentioned College of Wooster as a LAC that gives out lots of merit aid and overall has a less preppy student body. What about Kenyon College (not quite a crunchy as Oberlin and not as preppy/Greek as Bucknell)? Not sure if there is a lot of merit to be had there though. Denison U also gives out a lot of merit (although it is generally thought of as a bit preppier than Wooster…I thought the students seemed fairly diverse in terms of type/style when we visited though).
rrobb, I think the mid-size privates might provide a reasonable middle ground between small LACs and huge State Universities. I’m not that familiar with merit awards in this category, but I’ve had friends who’s children received significant merit from Emory, Chicago and Rochester.
As far as middle ground LACs go, I’d second the suggestion of Grinnell, Wooster and Kenyon. Perhaps look at Davidson and Rhodes.
Would she consider women’s colleges? Smith, Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Scripps each have distinctive personalities and I’m not sure which would be the better fit, but they all can be generous with merit.
Does your daughter have a “dream school” (even if it’s unaffordable) where she feels she would fit in? Sometimes it’s helpful to start with the ideal then look for others that are more affordable and/or less selective in the same general culture and personality type.
Or it could be that she’s just not responding to “small” the way she envisioned she would.
For significant merit she might try to get her scores up a notch. Has she tried the ACT?
I was hoping my D would go the LAC route as well, but she found herself more interested in larger schools with Honor’s colleges and the ones giving good merit seem to be making greater efforts to really make their Honors programs and housing/perks appealing.
We visited Univ of Delaware last week, which shouldn’t be too far geographically for you. Top merit OOS is competitive, but they have reasonably attainable ‘good’ merit for your daughter I would think. It is a semi-big school, but the campus has that beautiful LAC look and feel, but with the research and Honor’s programs D is looking for. I’d recommend visiting there, and possibly Univ of Richmond, another larger school with the small school beauty and feel.
We visited a number of LACs with my D and they all did seem to have a definite “vibe”. My D definitely found some to artsy, some too pretty etc. She is at Lafayette and loves it. On the other hand my S didn’t like the feel of LACs in general and felt they were too small for him – he had an equally wonderful experience at a university. To each their own. What you need to try to discern is if she didn’t like those particular schools or if she didn’t like LACs in general.
The one thing going for larger school is that you have lots of people to choose from when finding peers while lots of LACs have one specific vibe. Larger schools also give you more freedom to change major. I don’t know much about environmental science at small schools but I would start with a search engine and find out where it is offered if it is a definite major. U of SC has great honors program. Top scholarships highly competitive but honors college acceptance usually include waiver of OOS tuition and some other scholarship. And NMF is automatic, stackable scholarship. So very good value. Increased emphasis on environmental/sustainable issues and newish full ES major (science intensive) might make it interesting for her.
Don’t know if major fits but for smaller schools look at Furman, Elon, Wake Forest (not great merit) or Wofford (more Greek dominated but nice kids).
Clark U is a reasonable compromise. She’d be in the running for a full-tuition LEEP scholarship.
If she likes enviro science and doesn’t enjoy the “crunchy” people who love enviro science, she might want to approach the career from a different angle.
Eckerd College, well known for its’ science and environmental programs. Professors are mentors and engage their students in research as freshman. They have the largest number of NOAA Hollings Scholars in the US. New science center as well as renovated to new physics, math, environmental science and computer science buildings. Separate marine science building and labs. Look at their summer study programs and research in environmental sciences in Indonesia, Cuba, and sea programs. They have a farm to fork program and a garden on campus as well as sustainability campus programs and carbon footprint programs. Numerous opportunities for research local and abroad, freshman research scholarships, Ford apprentice programs, Phi Beta Kappa chapter, etc. Good merit and financial aid.
^^And Eckerd is neither crunchy nor preppy. At least we didn’t see it during our visit. New College of Florida was way crunchier.
My D couldn’t pin down why she didn’t like certain schools until after all her apps were sent in. It turns out she doesn’t like “traditional campuses all by themselves/ in small college towns.”
Try to get your kid to figure out what she doesn’t like about the LACs she’s visited.
Maybe I went about this the wrong way, but I never drew some arbitrary line between research u’s and LAC’s and said that they had to be interested in one but not the other. Both of mine looked at both types and had both types on their lists. And is there THAT much difference between being embedded in liberal arts as one of X schools at a university and being at a place that only focuses on liberal arts?
I think that you are foolish to have dismissed UMD-CP so quickly. The concerns you mention are exactly the superficial concerns so many MD high school students (& parents) bring up. They seem valid at the time but if you actually explore the possibilities there, particularly the honors programs, you will find that there’s actually nothing wrong with it’s location. For someone who needs financial aid, it’s ridiculous to dismiss such a strong flagship university out of hand when it’s likely that your daughter would receive an excellent education there and have the advantage of all the wonderful opportunities for internships and professional contacts in Washington DC (only a few Metro stops away) that come with it.
I know very well that high school kids in this area love to romanticize the LACs and that many on CC love them too. I don’t doubt that many people have a wonderful experience there and receive great educations as well, but this business of fearing that a large university being “too crowded” is mostly bunk, IMO. After two weeks on campus, you never hear these complaints again and large schools offer so many different options, both socially and educationally that many kids shortchange themselves by refusing to consider them.
I may seem adamant about this but I used to feel the same way about UMD when my kids were in high school and they refused to consider it at first for the same reason your daughter did. DD only applied there because it seemed dumb not to include it as a safety; she never intended to enroll there. Fast-forward a few months and after examining all the various acceptances she had, we were shocked that she had decided that it had much more to offer that she originally thought. I even tried to talk her into going to another out of state, much more expensive school because I had so bought into the anti-CP attitude but she was insistent that she wanted to go there and thought it was silly to spend so much more money on another school if she could get just as good an education in-state. She has since graduated after having a great experience (including a fantastic DC internship she could continue part-time when classes resumed) and I have happily eaten my humble pie.
^^^ ++++1!