Figuring out ‘top 10’ in area of interest is something I found hard particularly for LACs (which is what D was set on). #51 (on USNEWS) Furman for example is much stronger in Chemistry than many of the top-10 LAC on that list. Since D was interested in STEM, I dug into data like this
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19567186/#Comment_19567186
and this
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19567186/#Comment_19567186
and lists like this
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/lists/list/the-experts-choice-colleges-with-great-pre-med-programs/199/
Then that led to a list of schools that were esp strong for STEM and that gave good merit aid. Then D crossed off schools for various reasons, and as I mentioned before, way too many schools were crossed off for bad reasons (too urban). Hmm, what if that school had given you a full-ride? I wonder if ‘too urban’ would have been such a negative then.