<p>My d will be a senior in the fall and is looking at schools. She is a straight A students, 23 out of 355 class rank. She got a 2020 on her SAT's. She is involved in school (book club, Amnesty Intl, band etc) and does some volunteering but is not overly so. She is looking for a smaller school (under 4000) in PA, MD, VA. She is not into the party scene. She will be majoring in English, loves books! Doesn't want something too elitist. Also, merit aide would be great. Any ideas?</p>
<p>Not sure what you mean by elitist. The top colleges have the broadest range of students today as they have the money for generous aid. The smaller, less competitive privates are more likely to be weighted towards kids that can be full pay.</p>
<p>If she wouldn’t mind going to North Carolina (only one state down from Virginia so I thought I’d mention it) she should consider Davidson. Great school, small, and close to Charlotte if she wants to take advantage of the things uptown offers, but a small suburban setting for the college that is far enough away if she doesn’t like big cities.</p>
<p>A friend’s son had similar stats to your daughter and got good merit aide from Loyola University in Maryland. Dickinson in PA is another one that gives good aide.
Maybe Goucher as well.</p>
<p>Davidson is a great school, but probably a reach for your daughter. Apply, but consider some other choices. I agree that Dickinson would be a good choice along with Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall. All three have similar rankings and stats, with Gettysburg having the best campus / surrounding town.</p>
<p>Might look at Lafayette in Penn. Also Holy Cross in Mass. has solid English program.</p>
<p>Your daughter has many options, such as:</p>
<p>Reach
Johns Hopkins
Haverford
Bryn Mawr
William & Mary
(Outside PA,MD,VA: Davidson, Bard, Oberlin, Kenyon)</p>
<p>Match
Juniata
Ursinus
Gettysburg
Dickinson
(Outside PA,MD,VA: College of Wooster, Earlham)</p>
<p>Safety
St. Mary’s College of MD (a safety if you are a MD resident; match if not)</p>
<p>I would have to agree with a lot of the schools that tk27169 mentioned, especially St. Mary’s and Haverford. I’d also like to add Washington and Lee as a school that you should consider.</p>
<p>For merit aid and a good fit culturally, based on your description, she should consider the midwestern LACs-Grinnell (rural Iowa) and Macalester (urban Minnesota) for starters. Both offer merit aid, although she’d need to get her test scores over the 2100 mark to qualify at Grinnell.</p>
<p>goucher college and washington college - both in maryland. great english programs, small campuses. washington more preppy than goucher though. i heard great things about st. mary’s in md too. </p>
<p>ursinus, franklin and marshall, dickinson, gettysburg, lafayette, susquehanna, allegheny - all strong LACs with varying selectivity.</p>
<p>Allegeny College in Meadville, PA is another school you should look into.</p>
<p>Washington College has a great English program, both by reputation and friends who are very happy in it. Nice location too. William and Mary and Dickinson are both great choices as well</p>