<p>An old post that might help:
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<p>I’m particularly fond of Davidson, which offers merit scholarships and was the second college in the country to go loan-free for all students. I am familiar with the German program at Davidson and can vouch that it’s excellent. Davidson has small classes even for a LAC and has a wonderful quality of life (nice weather, nice location, nice mix of academics/social life/DI athletics).</p>
<p>Among universities, you may want to consider Brandeis, Wake Forest, Rochester, U Miami, and Tulane as matches. I don’t know how good econ or German is at all of these, but they’re small-ish privates with reasonably good financial/merit aid. </p>
<p>You need a good safety you can afford. UIUC is an obvious choice, but I recommend having at least one or two others. These links are a place to start looking.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/52133-schools-known-good-merit-aid.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>