Good to hear she’s reframing her list. We discovered when visiting that there was a nice sweet spot where my kid could find both good merit aid and a solid cohort of academic peers. And there were others we looked at where he could have gotten in and gotten merit, but would have felt like a fish out of water. He had good luck with the first set and dropped the second from his list.
she’s already got full tuition at Alabama Huntsville, and she likes the campus. yeah, definitely apply there.
http://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships
bump the ACT up to 32 and University of Mississippi will give her big $$$. it’s a very nice campus in a small town. it’s got about 21,000 students so it’s smaller than Alabama-Tuscaloosa. even though it’s likely a big party school, i don’t think she will have problems finding a circle of Christian friends that aren’t into the party scene.
Not Southern, but Messiah College in Pennsylvania is Christian and has a competitive full tuition scholarship, in addition to other academic scholarships. She also might want to check out Berry College in north Georgia.
Messiah looks good but might be too cold in PA. I’ll have her check out Berry.
Thanks!
Agnes Scott, Oglethorpe, Unc Greensboro, Unc Charlotte, College of Charleston, usc Aiken, CNU, Millsaps, Eckerd, Stetson, FIU?
Another vote for Wofford, good friend of ours is a committed Christian and played a varsity sport in high school and she is pretty much on full scholly there (and playing her sport).
Don’t rule out women’s’ colleges. My DD’18 thought she wouldn’t like it, but instantly fell in love with Bryn Mawr. Worth a visit.
Schools in #44 would all be safeties except Agnes Scott; College of Charleston and CNU have good honors colleges that aren’t impossible to get into. 
My 2 children went to Eckerd. One went on to law school and the other was just accepted into veterinary school. They have an honors program and a Phi Beta Kappa Chapter. The relationship between mentor and students is very strong. There is a strong sense of stewardship of the earth, community justice and service learning. They have one of the highest rates of students who study abroad. PM me for more details or specific questions about research opportunities, internships, etc. Your daughter’s list looks pretty solid.
She likes Eckerd so that’s a good possibility.
We checked out Wofford last night. It looks really good. I think she decided to put it on her list. Her list is shaping up well. Thanks for all the helpful input!
@4Hurley, thanks for keeping us posted, and looking forward to see the updated list as it evolves. One thing to look for as you start to refine the list are indicators that might be red flags for poor fit, such as being extremely regional (e.g. a huge percentage from a single state or cluster of states), or lousy retention rates, or even when the popular majors seem out of sync with the kid you’re sending – that and the percentage/number of kids at their academic level. Berry College, suggested above, seemed to me a poor fit in that regard.
Florida Southern is about equal distance from Orlando or Tampa airports. When we toured, the students said they use both, so that doubles your options for flights.
U of Tampa is also considered a beautiful school. You might look at some of the Florida state schools, like South Florida in Tamps (2 campuses), or FIU. I like Rollins the best, and I actually like Flagler a lot too. Yes, your daughter’s stats are high, but she may still find a good fit and be the top dog. Personally, I couldn’t get out of Lakeland and Florida Southern fast enough, but the campus is beautiful and if she wants a small (tiny) college town, Lakeland will work. I love Winter Park (Rollins) and St. Augustine (Flagler), didn’t care for Deland (Stetson). All schools will have shuttle service to the airports, but my daughter can always find a ride (about an hour away)
Of course this may all be for naught if hurricane Matthew takes out everything along the coast.
I think she’ll find schools in the south more religious than schools in the north, even if they aren’t affiliated with a church. My daughter is at a school which was not founded by any religion, but it has a non-denominational chapel which is run by a catholic priest and a Newman dorm. Palm Beach, as you know and already crossed off, has required chapel attendance. There are a few Catholic schools in Florida (St. Leo, Barry, Ave Maria (which is very very religious)), and several baptist or Christian schools too. Flagler is not catholic, but sort of is.
We finally had a chance to wade through all the college websites and ran all the net price calculators. Her list, I think, has a good amount of matches and safeties which could yield good merit aid, as well as a couple of reaches. This is what we have settled on:
Eckerd College
Florida Southern College
Rollins College
Stetson University
Stonehill College
University of Alabama
Spring Hill College
Roanoke College
Wofford College
Endicott College
*Emory University (reach)
*Davidson College (reach)
I still would like a financial safety close to home, but UNH came in at over 20,000 with the net price calculator. Her brother attends there, but she doesn’t really like the school. The other two in state publics are Keene and Plymouth which aren’t good options.
Thanks so much for all the great help and advice!
Forgot to say that we have a visit to Wofford and Davidson scheduled in Nov. That leaves U of AL, Spring Hill, and Roanoke left to visit. She’s been to all the others.
I’m a Stetson Alum. It’s a great small school with attentive professors. Beautiful campus. Your daughter would get excellent merit aid there
Would she go west? Pepperdine is a religious school with smart students, great academic reputation and a gorgeous location.
How about Richmond? Would her stats qualify her for merit money there?
West is harder to fly to, so she’s focusing on the east coast.
I’ll have to check her stats for Richmond. 31 ACT and 3.9 uw GPA. In top two of her class.
Don’t want to confuse you even more - but look at. St. Joseph’s University right outside Philadelphia. Good Catholic college with rising reputation and growing campus. Strong commitment to giving back. Easy access to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia for Amtrak train ride home at any time. With her high stats, she might even be eligible for their Presidential Scholarship. If not, you can expect a steep tuition discount. They really go after high stats students.
Christian college, warm climate? Put Pepperdine on your list. My family loved it. Right in Malibu. Beautiful campus, warm, caring community. Lovely chapel. They were the most welcoming of all the schools on our daughter’s list. We could only go out from the East Coast over Christmas break, and even though they weren’t running tours and interviews, they made someone available. They were so welcoming, and took good care of us, and at the end of the tour gave us a backpack, towel, sunglasses, I think and other goodies. My daughter ended up picking another California school, mainly because Pepperdine (where Lester Holt’s son graduated from) didn’t have her major. Otherwise, it’s truly a gem of a school and community.
3 other posters have suggested Pepperdine, but OP does not want to pay airfare to west coast.
I agree, Pepperdine would be a great fit. OP should NOT let her D visit Pepperdine, as that would immediately be her top choice if she ever saw the campus! We have 2 friends who have students at Pepperdine and both love it, coming from Minnesota.
I think you have done your due diligence and have put together a strong list. Good luck on the applications. I will be interested to see what your D thinks of Davidson, as we liked it, but it did have a bit of a party vibe there with the D1 sports for such a small school.