@Hippo21 Thank you! I’ve briefly looked at Trinity before but yeah I think it’s worth researching some more.
@bobo44 Thanks for that insight! I’ll definitely look into it more
Hi -
So I’m wondering why you’re not considering Tulane, as it seems to fit your criteria. My youngest daughter is about to graduate there and I have nothing but good things to say… They are also good with merit aid, just keep taking the ACTs and get that score up a point or two for your best chances for aid 
Also, how about University of Vermont - UVM ? I’ve toured there a few times, visited on accepted students day, and simply like the school. With your ACT you would probably get into the honors program and they would likely give you aid too. Burlington VT is a great college town. Good school vibe, chill. Brutal winters…
And finally, my older daughter also wanted a midsize school, and ended up at Cornell, and didn’t “feel” the larger size at all. In other words, it was not a big deal to go to a big school as you simply find your own smaller friend circles.
Best,
Ken
@kencc83 Thanks for the response Ken. I actually have looked into Tulane a bit, but I’m not retaking the ACT any more, so I think it’s too much of a reach for me. But I haven’t completely crossed it out. And as for Vermont, I’m really not looking at schools in that region (if I was, it would open up the search to soooo many different school, I’d essentially be back at square one). I don’t really want anywhere farther north than D.C. And yeah I think you’re right about the larger school thing, so I’ll keep that in mind.
Emory or Oxford Emory? Though a lot of merit aid is unlikely.
I agree with @MYOS1634 and add to that the idea that some LACs are parts of consortia. Consortia allow you to take classes at other colleges. You may attend a college of 2000, but with the other schools in the consortium, you have access to campuses with different architecture, different philosophies of learning, different culture.
With that in mind you may want to look at –
Scripps (Calremont consortium in general)
Bryn Mawr/ Haverford (bi-co, tri-co, and classes at UPenn)
Smith / Mt. Holyoke (classes at UMass Amherst, and Amherst)
Mills I know you’ve looked at but you can cross reg at Berkeley, an art school, and several other schools
Simmons in Boston – cross reg at about 5 schools in the area
Agnes Scott – cross reg at emory
Guilford consortium
I’m sure that there are others, but I can’t think of them.
@Dustyfeathers Well I’m not necessarily interested in LACs just for the sake of being LACs, and I’m also very interested in weather/location. So I don’t really care about New England/Midwest schools. That leaves Scripps/the Claremonts, Mills, and Agnes Scott. I’ve actually researched the Claremont Consortium extensively. Pomona was my die-hard dream school for a good while, but then I realized I was gonna need merit aid and Pomona doesn’t give any, and the merit at the other Claremonts, including Scripps, seems very selective so I just don’t think it’s realistic for me. And I don’t think Mills or Agnes Scott is like the Claremont Consortium, even if they’re somewhat close to other colleges. The Claremonts all shared campuses within one compact area, and I haven’t heard about that being the case anywhere else. And I’m really not interested at all in cross registering at different schools; I feel like that kinda defeats the purpose of going to a particular school in the first place. Thank you for the response though, I appreciate it.
@cinnamon1212 Yeah I think Emory is too selective for me. I never knew about their Oxford campus until I just Googled it now though, it’s interesting but I still don’t think it’s for me. Thanks for the input.
@sophiavictoria ok then, how about Lewis and Clark in Portland Oregon? They are known to be very generous with merit aid.
Fordham and GW give generous merit aid, although I don’t think they are what you are looking for,
University of Puget Sound? U of the Pacific? U Tulsa (Greek, but not overbearing)?
@cinnamon1212 Hmm I don’t know about Lewis & Clark. I think I mentioned somewhere up in the thread, but I just can’t really see myself in Oregon. I’ve looked at it before and there wasn’t really anything I disliked a lot, but there wasn’t anything I was super thrilled about either.
@W84Quaker Yeah those aren’t really what I’m looking for, thank you though
Christopher Newport?
http://cnu.edu/academics/plp/
http://cnu.edu/academics/honors/
@allyphoe Thanks for the suggestions, but I don’t think I can really see myself in Washington state so I’m not really considering anything up there. I’m really not interested in Oklahoma either, but I just Googled the University of Tulsa because I’ve never heard of it before now, and it seemed interesting, but I don’t think I would consider that location. And as for the University of the Pacific, I’ve come across it while researching California schools and nothing really stood out to me about it. I’ve heard that Stockton isn’t a very good area but idk.
@MYOS1634 Hmm it doesn’t really stand out much to me, but I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks.
I hope you will be happy basing your decision on weather. Yesterday it was 80 in Denver and today it is snowing and schools are getting out early. The day I moved to Florida it was 30 degrees and raining/sleeting. It recently snowed in Las Vegas and LA.
@twoinanddone Okay? Obviously I’m not basing my entire decision off weather alone… I know how weather works and how variable it is. I’ve actually put a lot of thought into my college search so far. I’m not sure what the point of your comment was…
You say you’ll need lots of merit aid. What’s the most your parents are willing to pay?
@LuckyCharms913 I’m not completely sure, but probably no more than $15,000 at the very most. But again I’m not really sure