One LAC with a football team and a friendly atmosphere is Muhlenberg. They also tend to give merit for kids with those stats.
Other sporty LACs include St. Lawrence U in NY and Williams and Amherst.
She’d have the stats for St. Lawrence U but the others are a reach. The good news might be that Amherst is part of the 5-college consortium with three other schools that might suit her.
Smith
Mt. H and as someone previously mentioned Hampshire college.
Students of all 5 colleges can take courses at the other schools and they have free bus service. She would get the hominess of a single college and then could branch out to other schools, each with a unique personality, as she feels the need.
With a 4.0 if she likes the consortium idea, there are two other similar consortia. One is near Philly, the Quaker Consortium. It includes Haverford, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and U of Penn. She could get sporty at UPenn and the Philadephlia teams (very eager fans there!) but also have the comfort of small LACs. Free buses and rail to the various schools.
The other consortium is the Claremont one. Those are 5-minute walks apart. I’m unclear about the sporty angle there, though.
Rhodes is another with nice LAC with football, and also golf.
I think the Catch 22 here is that “sporty” and “quirky” often tend not to co-occur, except perhaps at the STEM-heavy schools like RPI… but OP’s d doesn’t sound like a STEM-grind sort of kid either.
Maybe Lawrence U? Their quirkiness is more of the music-conservatory flavor, because the “Con” comprises a substantial portion of the school; but they also have a decent sized athlete population too. They have cool quirky traditions like the annual “Great Midwest Trivia Contest”… and they have a freshman core that unites the class by having them all working through the same reading list.
Beloit (home of the annual Mindset List) is also a fairly quirky LAC with sports.
Ohio Wesleyan is small, has sports, and your daughters stats might be sufficient for a reasonable amount of merit but Im not sure if it would bring the cost down to what you seek. It is an interesting school with creative study abroad options, a CTCL school (Colleges that Change Lives). You might check out the CTCL website for ideas about smaller schools that don’t let kids fall between the cracks, and that offer merit scholarships for students like your daughter. However, getting to 25K annually will be tough. 30-35 K is more likely.
Honors programs in public universities are another way for smart, socially awkward kids to find their tribe. At U of New Mexico, she could get in state tuition with those stats (total COA around 18K). She could probably get reasonable merit at Arizona State, although if she could nudge her ACT up to a 32, her chances would be better still. UT Dallas is another option. I know a girl who got full tuition scholarship there with a 32 or 33 ACT. All of these Western universities have good honors programs, ASU’s Barrett Honors is regarded as one of the best in the country.
Depending on where you live, there may be reciprocal tuition agreements. There are exchanges in New England, the Midwest and the West.
Also many schools have pre-orientation programs for first year students to bond - often it’s an outdoor adventure of some kind but it also could be community service or some sort of mini-course. These might enable your child to start off on the right foot socially.
My kid has been very happy at University of Kentucky. The Honors College has quirky kids for sure. Our D hasn’t done a lot with the Honors kids because she found other people she connected with. There are definitely big time sports. Our D got good merit money too without super high stats. We have been so pleased with everything about her first year. Feel free to message me if you want more detail.
University of Tulsa. With her grades and ACT, She would qualify for a near full ride merit scholarship too. My son is super high functioning but struggles with interpreting the social scene as well. He will live on campus. They have an amazing (free) program that supports them and helps them by immediately putting them together with other kids who are on the same page.
Many LACs suggested are lovely options where many personalities can thrive and there is a fair amount of social scaffolding. Women’s colleges can be very supportive environments as well. Mt Holyoke is a nice idea, and she could enjoy D1 sports at UMass Amherst nearby. The $25K cap is going to be a challenge at LACs in general, however.
With your cost constraints, I’d take a look at Trinity University in San Antonio. They are merit-generous. Sounds like they are quirky-friendly there and while definitely small enough to not get lost in the crowd, aren’t super tiny (2500). Texas is a fun sports state in general.
You may need to take extra time for your daughter to visit campuses in that slow, patient, immersive way that’s time-consuming and expensive, where she can really simulate what it would be like to be there. And perhaps encourage her in a year to engage with her fellow admitted students in an online community so she can begin to make connections before she even arrives on campus. I’d emphasize the “fresh start” that college will bring.
We were able to get several LACS under or around 25K. With a bump on ACT score my guess is it is totally doable. And if you look below the top LACS maybe those that rank 50th or lower as long as you have strong stats then less ECs are not likely to be a problem.