In terms of finances, the “sticker” cost of many LACs will be similar, regardless of whether they are ranked 10 or 50. Tuition is often around $50-55,000 and room and board around $10-15,000. Usually some mandatory, incidental expenses as well, like student activity fee, health services fee, health insurance (unless you can provide proof you are covered under another health plan) etc. which can add another $1000-3000 a year. So, the first step is to understand finances with your family first – are you “full pay” – not eligible for any financial aid? You can get a rough sense of eligibility for financial aid by running the Net Price Calculator on various schools sites to see what the Expected Family Contribution looks like. For a full pay family which may not be able to actually afford to pay the whole cost, then the availability of merit aid comes into play as that is not tied to financial need but simply what the applicant offers to campus. Are you a US citizen living and being educated in Germany? Or an international student? That distinction matters in terms of admissions and financial aid at many schools. If a family needs merit aid to make the finances work, because they are not eligible for financial aid and cannot afford the full cost, then knowing where to look for merit matters.
Most of the NESCAC schools – Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Bates, etc. do not give merit awards, though both Trinity College in Hartford and Connecticut College in New London both have begun to offer some merit awards, though it is fairly recent so hard to know criteria for awards. Other top east coast LACs, like Haverford and Swarthmore, do not offer merit awards. On the other hand, some women’s colleges, such as Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke, do offer merit award and, because women’s colleges tend to have a smaller applicant pool because the applicants self-select for women’s colleges, acceptance rates are often higher. Except for Barnard – Barnard gets harder and harder to get into every year, and is below 15% now, if not even lower. Some other east coast schools that meet some, but not all, of your preferences would include Skidmore and St Lawrence (great school spirit, sports, easier acceptance rate, but about 90 minutes from Montreal and in a small town/village in up up upstate New York, and less diverse than some other schools).
If you leave the east coast, acceptance rates can be a little easier and merit money can be a little more available. Some schools with 20-50% acceptance rate that meet some of your criteria might include Denison, Dickinson, Macalester. Kenyon checks some boxes, including the storied tradition of the Kenyon Literary Review, but the 1700 student size might not meet your parameters and it is not economically diverse. I try not to over-recommend Denison, where I have a kid, but it does seem to meet a lot of your preferences – 2300 students, diverse (35% non-white, which is pretty good among LACs, 20% international student, 20% 1st gen, economically diverse), strong theater options with amazing new performing arts center, great school spirit and sports, creative writing and narrative non-fiction majors and less than 30 minutes from Columbus airport, so flying in and out is pretty straightforward. Dickinson is a little easier acceptance rate, hovers around 40%, also about 2300 students, big emphasis on international focus, less diverse than Denison but also strong sports and school spirit, huge focus on study abroad. Dickinson is in Central Pennsylvania, so about 2 hours from both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, though about 30-40 minutes from Harrisburg, the state capitol. Macalester is in St Paul, MN, so international flights are easier, diverse student body, big international focus as well. We did not visit so I can’t speak directly to some of your criteria like school spirit etc.
