Ok, @MiamiDAP, I will amend my statement to say that total COA for CWRU is approximately $60,000. Did not realize that this was a “tuition only” discussion since room, board, and other expenses are factored into need based aid also. Jeez.
Do try Northwestern. Although it is competitive, OP’s kid is within the range. It is a profile school though, so the EFC calculation would be a bit of the FAFSA figure. In our case, it is 1/3 more than our in state need met school after financial aids.
Look at Truman State in Missouri. Minnesota Morris is another nice opportunity, but much smaller. Both quite rural–not sure where you are in MN. University of Kansas will also be in your price range with guaranteed merit. My Wisconsin kid with similar profile (34 ACT, 4.0) won’t consider UMn or UW, so I get that. For engineering in Wisconsin if Madison is out, I think Platteville is great option. Right at the size you want too. Again, more rural. It is a residential school which is desirable for us. (FYI, my kid won’t go there because it is too close to home, but many top engineering students in Wisconsin choose it if they are turned off my Madison.)
My son got a nice merit scholarship from Oberlin that we weren’t expecting, but it did cause him to choose it. Don’t know if they have engineering, but it’s worth checking it out.
BU is known for their bad FA, but I’m surprised about Case Western. A family friend is there now and she got good FA, as well as a nice merit package that enabled her to attend.
UIUC and UW-Madison are also known for bad FA.
@massmomm Oberlin got racked by Moody’s for fairing poorly since the recession compared to some of its peers. Its outlook has been downgraded to negative as Oberlin has become increasingly leveraged over the past few years.
@Massmomm case was generous with merit and provided some fa but left a large gap. Not as large as bu though 
Oberlin’s bond rating has slipped but it slipped from a perfect aaa rating down one notch. It’s still as good a rating as Brown and Cornell have and better than UPenn’s. I think it’s very misleading to characterize them as “fairing poorly” when they still have an excellent credit rating even when compared to like schools.
Oberlin’s endowment is $800M while Case’s is $1,4B, Brown has $3B, Cornell’s is $6B and UPenn is over $9B.
@khidhala - I neglected to mention Mac! We did visit there, and I personally was very excited about it because it’s an awesome school. However, it’s just too close to home for her (her soccer team uses their field for home games!)
@nugraddad - we are planning to visit Northwestern!
To all the respondents, your insight has been so helpful. I believe she will end up doing multiple applications, and see what type of financial packages are offered, instead of focusing on one or two “selective” schools. (Now if any of the DIII schools want her to play soccer, that will be another factor to consider! She has two watching her currently.)
Oberlin is a small college. Its endowment per student is slightly higher than Cornell’s (and much higher than Case Western’s). http://www.reachhighscholars.org/college_endowments.html
According to Kiplinger’s, 70% of Oberlin students get merit aid, averaging $13,541 per student. Those numbers are very high compared to other selective LACs.
@troyus, “fairing poorly” was Moody’s wording in their report.
Then shame on Moody’s. “Fairing poorly” makes no grammatical sense in English. Maybe they meant “faring poorly”?
Well, I certainly hope Oberlin fares well enough over the next four years for my son to get his degree. He is really looking forward to his time there.
billcsho - yes- you are correct - bad aid at UWMad and UIUC - they are public and don’t have the funds. Very greatful that NU stepped up to the plate to help my kids.
twincities - congrats on the visit. I can help u out with places to eat if you need the nudge. Sadly, Rollin To Go - one of our family’s favorites is closing.
@bclintonk Having looked it up I have to concede your point. It was inside Higher Ed who used the term “faring poorly”, not Moody’s, but close enough.
I still have to push, however, that Oberlin is in solid financial shape with a credit rating far above the average school. Moody’s shows Oberlin being in the top 10%-20% of schools in terms of credit rating. This is a tough time for colleges and I expect more than a few to go out of business over the next few years as they struggle just to fill their seats, but Oberlin is still in high demand and will do fine for the foreseeable future.
Re #71:
“Oberlin is a small college. Its endowment per student is slightly higher than Cornell’s”
Cornell’s various colleges are divided internally into an “endowed division” and a "statutory division " (the “contract colleges”). When I last saw #s quoted, direct annual state funding to the statutory colleges was equated in cash impact to what a an additional $3billion- $4 billion endowment would provide.
From an old Wikipedia entry:
“Thus true inter-institutional endowment comparisons which do not detail quasi-endowments represented by state funding initiatives as well as external research funding grossly misstate the comparability between institutions which may, or may not, be inherently non-comparable”.