@mamaedefamilia, I’ve been following your travels with interest, as my D is a dancer, too (ballet/tap/jazz). Can you share a little more about the dance programs at the schools your D is interested in? For Oberlin to be at the top of her list, they must have a lot to recommend them, but I hadn’t even realized they had a dance program. WUSTL surprised me too (although I did read somewhere that they had excellent ballet instructors). And U. Chicago?
@2mrmagoo Unfortunately, my daughter isn’t interested in women’s colleges, even those in consortia like Bryn Mawr or Mt Holyoke/Smith. But yes, the Bryn Mawr program, and nearby opportunities in Philadelphia area are great.
@Curiosa Oberlin has a dance program that is mostly contemporary-based but also offers some ballet. There is a small ballet company in town, just a couple of blocks from the university and my daughter has written to them to get more information but I am not sure if she’s heard back yet. She is also a musician and Oberlin is obviously very strong in music.
She is not intending to major, and perhaps won’t even minor in dance, but wants the opportunity to continue performing at a reasonably high level. WUSTL has a lot of depth in dance in many genres, including international. Chicago does not have a dance program at all but it has some well-regarded student dance groups including a ballet company that offers ballet classes to the community as well as a few high quality shows per year. If you’re targeting midwestern schools, you might want to give Case Western a look. It has reasonable offerings in theater and dance.
My daughter is a musician, too. In fact, the only thing in your description of your daughter that didn’t apply to mine was the interest in creative writing. Otherwise they seem like kindred spirits, which is why I’m enjoying piggybacking on your college search so much. Thank you for the info! Oberlin and WUSTL get to stay on the list, for now.
Thanks @mamaedefamilia for posting this. Way back in 2014, I pegged Denison as a possibility for my son, and thanks to this post, it has been confirmed. I am adding it to his list, and sometime next year, I might even tell him about it :))
I am looking forward to following your daughter’s journey, just as you followed my D’s. Which post can I bookmark?
@Lindagaf Thanks for the nudge! It’s on my to do list. Just got back from a travel-heavy few weeks and the kids go back to school tomorrow. Then I can catch up here. 
Looking forward to paying it forward as your own daughter’s journey was so helpful to me!
mamadefamilia, what about Haverford but taking advantage of the dance program at Bryn Mawr?
http://blogs.haverford.edu/firstyear/2014/08/14/bi-co-dance-program/
@2mrmagoo - if Haverford offered merit scholarships, she’d be all over it! Thanks for the suggestion.
Of those 3 I would expect Wooster to offer the most generous merit based on numbers I’ve run and other research. I agree that Goucher may be worth a look.
Was Lawrence looked at and vetoed already?
@eandesmom Lawrence doesn’t have a dance program, otherwise we’d have visited. Goucher does have good dance but didn’t quite make the cut in other areas. D has decided to apply to both Wooster and St. Olaf! And WWU! 
I wish Wooster had my S’s area of interest, I think it looks lovely. I’ve heard good things about St. Olaf. What knocked Goucher off?
Yay for Western, it is nice to have a true safety that your child really could be just fine at!
@eandesmom Goucher? A little smaller than her preference. Very heavily skewed female (70/30) and with less than 1500 students, that’s a pretty small dating pool. Knowing that partying happens everywhere, some on-line student reviews suggest heavier than normal drug use. This may be anecdotal but it was enough to turn her off.
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@HeavyLidded, thanks very much! I have heard only good things about Wooster. It sounds like the students are happy, friendly, and enjoy their studies. Should she get accepted, I’ll be in touch.
I think you’ve got a great list. I wanted to mention Dickinson in PA. They have some kind of arrangement with nearby CPYB for ballet.
Also, my liberal feminist atheist violinist daughter has St. Olaf in her top 2 or 3 right now. Best of luck!
@Earthmama68 Yes, she will also be applying to Dickinson. It was one of two on her list that we were unable to visit, but she’s going to go for it! Glad that my daughter would be in good company with yours at St. Olaf!