<p>Muhlenberg gave my nephew very generous merit aid. I know you said no West, but Willamette is also very generous with merit aid.</p>
<p>With your son’s stats and interests I think you ought to consider apply to a few of the deep-pockets schools that give need-based aid farther up the income scale, such as some of the Ivies (H, Y, P, and D, for example). With undergraduate bodies in the 4-5,000 range, they are closer to LACs than most universities. D really IS a big LAC, in most ways, although it violates your no Greek, no jock specifications. Casting a wide net is important when you need aid of any kind. It is also quite possible that your expenses related to your autistic son will be recognized and taken into account by those schools. (This depends how high your income actually is, of course, and how large your documented expenses are.)</p>
<p>Purely on fit, Carleton and Haverford spring to mind. Bowdoin does not have fraternities. (Someone asked, upthread.) I know you said not west, but Pomona is a great LAC with excellent FA. You never know.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the great suggestions and info. My son is looking into the colleges that were mentioned and the link to the fin aid data is very useful.</p>
<p>Goucher if he doesn’t mind location near Towson and a predominantly female student population; Swarthmore for generous need-based aid…fun is in the mind of the thinker there (some kids do have a good time).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree with this and would add Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst to the mix. Also Middlebury, Haverford, the Maine three (Bowdoin/Bates/Colby) though their pockets are not as deep as SWA’s. Need based financial aid is more variable than you would think if the student fits the school’s profile.</p>
<p>I’d also second the midwestern schools with outstanding academics in addition to the ones you’ve already identified, Carleton, Macalester.</p>
<p>Your son’s quantitatives grades/scores/assumed rank are excellent. For small LACs and medium sized privates he’ll need subjectives too. Recommendations, essays, talents, life experiences count a lot. If he’s not involved in organized extracurriculars, then he’ll need to try harder to communicate what he IS involved in when he’s not in class.</p>
<p>Academically rigorous schools like intellectual curiosity, free thinkers and deep thinkers, but it’s not so easy to get abstraction across in an application. The way he presents himself in his essays, resume/profile and supplemental materials (such as writing samples, a resume that highlights awards and recognition) will be the make or break element at the kind of schools that would appeal to him. </p>
<p>At small LACs especially, more is more in the application. This is no time to be modest or understated. He needs to think about what he could contribute to the campus community and make sure that’s clearly presented in his application.</p>