You sound a bit like me (similar scores, GPA, National Merit, Brown is my #1). I think some possible fits could be Swarthmore (a bit small though), Emory, Vassar, and Brandeis. There’s also the Claremont Colleges which yes, are in California, but have pretty good recruiting and are definitely laid-back. I think Claremont Mckenna gives the most merit aid of any of them.
Would you consider Grinnell? They have re-done their merit scholarships this year with the highest being $50,000 a year. I think they are the definition of a laid back intellectual school. Also, no Greek life and very accepting environment. School has very few course requirements like Brown.
@proudterrier thank you so much! I will consider applying there, I am not a fan of the concept of a “linear campus” but at this point something’s gotta give and I’d rather it not be the student body. I understand I’ll get rich kids everywhere and that’s not a problem as long as they’re cool people or not the majority
@MYOS1634 Thank you so much for your help! I do indeed fall in the “not rich enough for college, not poor enough for aid” camp. I certainly have USC on my list, though that’s about the least socially relaxed school I can think of, but if the price is right…) and I will look into Alabama. I would honestly be willing to do up to 40k a year in complete cost because I’ve determined that would leave me with an amount of debt I would feel comfortable paying off. So even just 20k a year in merit would be sufficient, I really would prefer to not sacrifice academic quality. And UCSC and Berkeley are definitely both on my “if I fail to get to the east coast” schools!
I strongly second Grinnell - probably your best bet at having the exact student body you want - laid back and intellectual - while also getting sufficient merit.
Intellectual, laid back, with merit: Hendrix? Connecticut College? Muhlenberg? Beloit? Dickinson?
But not sure if the merit would be sufficient there.
St Olaf is smart, laid back, offers merit, but look into it to determine whether it’s the right fit (in particular, look at the “Conversation” programs) and if you like what you see, email them, fill out the “request info” form, etc, because “interest” matters a lot when they decide who gets their merit scholarships.
Note that you, yourself, can only take $5,500 in loans for freshman year. That’s it. You can then take $6,500 for sophomore year, and $7,500 each year for junior and senior years. That adds up to $31,000 with interest, the amount a college graduate can reasonably afford to pay back in 10 years.
Tuition + room/board at the New College of Florida would cost about $21,500 a year after their NMF scholarship. Lots of smart, quirky students there.
Fordham gives scholarships up to full tuition for NMFs in the top 10% of their class.
Tulsa gives fill ride scholarships and has one of the highest concentrations of NMFs in the country. Good school with a nice campus, but oddly it doesn’t get much buzz on CC.
http://admission.utulsa.edu/academic-opportunities/presidential-scholars/
I thought it was OU that had one of the highest concentrations of NMFs in the country? Or are they both in this situation?