<p>In the Midwest:</p>
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<li>The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is arguably the best, and certainly the most selective, of the non-Madison campuses of the University of Wisconsin system. The modal student was in the top 15 percent of her high school class, with a 25 or so ACT, or 620 or so SAT. The UW-La Crosse has a particular reputation, at least locally, in the sciences. La Crosse is a pleasant, picturesque small city nestled among the bluffs on the banks of the Mississippi River. In size, this university is about what you seek; I think that there are 9,000 students. It's a reasonably diverse place in ethnic terms for Wisconsin, but that's not saying a lot: 90 percent of students are white Wisconsinites and Minnesotans. The university is in a convenient part of the city, with coffee shops and interesting places in walkable distance between the campus and downtown. Also to be found are bars. Wisconsin's tavern and drinking culture can be upsetting to people who are unfamiliar with it (and even to people who are). Not that all La Crosse students drink like fish, but some do, and you'll want to weigh this factor. Academically and according to the size and setting criteria you have indicated, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse would be a great match/safety.</li>
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<p>Don't be afraid in general of the "branch campuses" of the great Midwestern universities; they are under-appreciated on this website. The Wisconsin system in particular is strong. Especially since dental school is the objective, academic prestige (what the herd thinks) can take second place to quality of actual education. Dental schools take substantial numbers of their students from among the top science graduates of places such as UW-La Crosse.</p>
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<li><p>St. Olaf College is a larger LAC (3,000 students) in Northfield, Minnesota (population 18,000), a town that also is home to Carleton College. Northfield is surrounded by corn fields and pasture, and your daughter may see it as "rural," but it isn't tiny, and Minneapolis and St. Paul are only 45 minutes away. St. Olaf is selective, and by no means a safety, but it is not nearly as selective as Carleton. I think it would be in the match category for your daughter. This college produces excellent science graduates. Its Lutheran heritage and tradition are evident (40 percent of students are Lutheran) but not oppressive. Minnesota Lutheranism is unobtrusive and by and large quietly progressive in political terms. About seven or eight percent of St. Olaf students are URMs. Northfield has all the qualities of a great college town, including the coffee shops and little boutiques your daughter seems to want. Do remind her, however, that Northfield and other college towns have these things, but not in the superabundance that you'll find in cities and suburbs. If variety is what she wants, a college town may not be right for her. Also note that St. Olaf is on a great hill on the edge of Northfield, so about a ten minute walk from the coffee shops and amenities. (Carleton, adjacent to downtown, is about a two-minute walk from all that.)</p></li>
<li><p>The University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota, would be a tolerable safety for your daughter. It once was a Catholic men's college called St. Thomas College, but for the last forty years it has been working to become the second university of the Twin Cities (after the University of Minnesota). It has more or less succeeded. St. Thomas now is pretty comprehensive, demographically diverse, Catholic but with too diverse a student body to be doctrinaire, and in size just about right. There are 10,000 students, half of them post-grads, but many of the latter are out of sight and out of mind on a Minneapolis campus. The old, gorgeous, St. Paul campus, where all of the undergraduates are, probably holds 6,000. Really it's beautiful. St. Thomas is an urban school, but emphatically not the kind of urban school your daughter wants to avoid. It is in St. Paul's finest, most stately (and funky!) neighborhood. Just up Grand Avenue, within easy walking distance, is Macalester College, a great LAC (which I'd recommend, except that it is smaller than you are seeking, and more of a reach than a match). Just down Summit Avenue is the College of St. Catherine, a fine Catholic women's college. In other words, this part of St. Paul (Google Map it and zoom out a bit to see the locale) is packed with campuses and students and is a paradise of fine coffee and eccentric shops. As St. Thomas has grown, it has lost some of its identity as a residential college. There are a lot of commuters now. Many suburban kids. In admissions terms, it's a definite safety. (By the way, students at St. Thomas, Macalester, St. Kate's, Hamline, and Augsburg may take classes in the other colleges.)</p></li>
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<p>Finally, have you considered public Canadian universities? They welcome students from the U.S., generally, and many are in the size range you seek. The academic culture is quite different in Canada, and you'll want to look into the differences before taking this option seriously, but if you can handle the differences, your range of options in "small universities" doubles. I would hope that dental schools in the U.S. would know what to do with an American graduate of, say, New Brunswick, Windsor, or Manitoba, but you'd probably want to ask around about this before committing to a Canadian school.</p>