Mt Holyoke actually has a full tuition scholarship(Trustee’s). Grinnell has the President’s for 50K a year. Davidson has the Belk. Washington and Lee the Johnson. They are out there but they are lotteries.
Her relative exoticism may make her attractive as a merit aid target to LACs that don’t get a lot of students whose families live overseas (and, who, I am speculating, may not be white). Unfortunately, that probably excludes LACs anywhere near an urban area in the Northeast. But it probably includes some great Midwestern LACs, even some that may be somewhat urban, like Macalaster or Rhodes.
Also maybe look at Babson or Emerson? Neither is an LAC, both are urban, both may be attractive “culturally” to her and/or her family. I don’t know what their position on merit aid is.
My view on the job thing: it’s not the college, it’s not the major, it’s the kid. A kid who is focused and smart about getting a job and supporting him- or herself can major in theater arts or basketweaving and do fine. It takes work; it takes having a plan, starting early, and executing it. There are probably some majors (like nursing, or some types of engineering) where the conveyor-belt to employers is so well-established that even a clueless kid will be fine, but in most cases, even with “hot” majors, a kid without job-orientation will have trouble getting a job. The real important difference between those majors and the majors that attract “cultural” hate is not so much the valuable skills that the former certify, but having a peer group of aggressive, employment-oriented co-majors. (If you are majoring in theater studies, you can pick up employment-related skills with your electives, or a minor . . . and you know you have to do that.)
20K is a very low budget for a merit aid LAC. Is your daughter willing to supplement that budget with her 5,500 student loan eligibility? Is that just the price you’re willing to pay the school, or does that include travel, books, everything? Are there any family members that she could live with and commute? Would two years of community college and two years at a fancier school be an option?
The scholarship lists in post #2 are a good bet. The east coast and New England are not great hunting grounds for merit aid, though. Think undermatching her test scores, in the midwest and the south.
Have a look at McGill - strong in her areas of interest, urban, exchange rate in your favor. Tuition varies by college at McGill so check for each major you are interested in.
I have been on an under $20K hunt for my D with lower stats so my experience is somewhat different.
I have not seen that the CTCL school’s maximum merit scholarships get there. Similar comments have been made on threads here by people who have had kids apply to these schools.
I’d look at the public Alabama schools and Truman State. You wouldn’t have to have the hightest stats to get under $20K.
I think it would be very hard to find under $20K in the Northeast, except for competitive scholarships at less selective schools.
I don’t think you have to worry about the conservative/liberal issue on the majority of college campuses in general, even outside the Northeast.
@my2caligirls - So funny - I spent the day studying McGill and seriously considering it. Great minds!
@AroundHere - The 5,500 could be added to it. Just very anti-loans at this point (I will be paying off undergrad/masters/law school for another 15 years!)
@roycroftmom - Sadly very few here that give the experience I would like her to have. If she was interested in medical school we would encourage her to do it here. I am looking at Canada, UK, Singapore.
@MACmiracle My D got total costs down to the low 20s -none of it is need based. It is a women’s college
I think that right now your requirements are too limiting:
LAC or smaller U
Urban
East Coast
$20,000/yr out of pocket
Substantial merit aid
I can only think of one or two schools that meet all these criteria and that would require getting a full tuition merit scholarship. Competition is fierce and involves additional essays and recs (so your D needs to pick a few schools and work on those applications aggressively and in many cases, apply by Dec 1). Check the other forums for a comprehensive list. I don’t think the top merit awards at Bryn Mawr, Smith and Mt. Holyoke would bring the price low enough for you, but you should check.
If you broaden your geographic preference, you will have more merit aid options. Denison, Wooster, Beloit, Grinnell, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Muhlenberg, Goucher, Ithaca, maybe Oberlin. Juniata, Alleghany, Ursinas are lesser ranked but might have more dollars. Agnes Scott (all women) in Atlanta is another generous merit aid school.
If you increase the budget to $30,000, you could add state schools that offer tuition discounts or instate tuition to high achievers. (University of Vermont for example is in beautiful and progressive Burlington VT). Your D could take a Stafford loan for $5500 and start working now to get the additional $4500.
Lynn O’Shaughnessy’s the College Solution blog is a good place to start your research on merit aid. Here is a link to an old article she wrote about how University of Rochester awards merit aid: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-reveals-the-secrets-of-winning-merit-scholarships/
Takeaways: worth it take SAT again to raise the score and declare a less popular major. Applied math and statistics have great earning potential and are actively seeking women, but she has to own her major.
@veruca It’s good to know that low 20’s is an option in the Northeast. I really wish my D would consider a women’s college.
@VAOptimist - They are not “requirements” - they are her “preferences.” We have been very clear with her that geographic or other preferences are all secondary to affordability.
@Dolemite posted that Mount Holyoke has a full tuition scholarship. Pioneer valley is a great student area, but it is not an urban area. 
@MACmiracle it is in the South -sorry I didn’t mean to be misleading. I just meant that it was a CTCL school
@veruca No problem. It’s still very reassuring to know a CTCL school is out there at a reasonable price.
When I checked Emerson last year they had a 1/2 tuition scholarship.
It’s not terribly hard for a hi stats student to find a higher ranked private with a total cost of 35K-ish after discounting(merit) but to get it down to 20K is about the same as getting into HYPSM.
Because of your daughters unique profile, she may be an attractive candidate.
In addition to the terrific suggestions of of Bryn Mawr and Clark, here are a few more LAC’s to consider
that could get you fairly close to your budget requirements:
Simmons in Boston
Wheaton between Boston and Providence in MA
Mount Allison in Eastern Canada
Bishop’s University in Eastern Canada
Goucher just outside of Baltimore
Agnes Scott in Atlanta
Smaller U
East coast
Good employment after graduating
Under $20k
Great academics
Urban
Welcome to the US Naval Academy.
Pitt is under 20k for my student based on merit only, urban but not small. Only other place she got that cheap was Truman State (not urban). Up to 30k, she had more options. The one I think sounds most like what this student wants is Lawrence University. Up to 40k, even more choices will appear. But as everyone else has stated, 20k is really tough.
Bryn Mawr doesn’t have merit to get it down to COA 20K.