I also think you should consider small research universities in urban/suburban environments.
Wash U St Louis - stunning campus - go on youtube and check out some of the promotional videos. Self contained but bordered by a hip college neighborhood on one side, Forest Park on another (free museums and zoo) and nice residential areas on the remaining two. Sizable Jewish population from the NE corridor. Increasingly competitive but your stats put you in range for consideration. Also offers merit scholarships which are even more competitive.
Rice U in Houston - has a residential college system (like Yale) and strong in STEM and engineering. Don’t know about Jewish life. Offers merit scholarships up to around 25K
Case Western - does not correspond to your self-contained campus ideal but it’s kind of quirky and might appeal. Also offers generous merit scholarships up to 30K depending on stats.
Vanderbilt has a stunning, albeit large campus. Limited merit scholarships.
Demonstrated interest is important for Wash U and Case.
Regarding larger LACs that offer merit, maybe check out Oberlin? Despite the incident alluded to upthread I don’t think it’s representative of the campus as a whole. Oberlin also has an active extracurricular circus group. At 2,800+ students it’s larger than many LACs (includes the conservatory). And I believe the Jewish student population is sizable.
Macalester (St. Paul) and Dickinson (Carlisle PA) also offer merit scholarships and are well regarded but I don’t know how active Jewish life is there. Also recommend Muhlenberg.
I’ve read profiles of Swarthmore students who are involved in circus arts. Some have graduated already, but it’s worth investigating to see if there are still clubs or troupes active there.
Thank you for all the suggestions!
Updates:
For sure list: UC-SD,SB,D,B
Yale
Wellesley
U of Chicago
Likely List:
Macalester
Willamette
McGill
I am retaking the ACT and will likely get a 35, as thats what I have be getting on practice tests. If there are any more suggestions for LACs or smaller universities that offer merit aid I am hoping to find a couple more. Thank you!
Are you familiar with Colleges that Change Lives? Most of the schools in that book give merit aid. Checknout the website College Solutions, too. Also, there are College Confidential threads that are devoted to the topic of merit aid. You have a good ACT but in general, the more renowned the school, the less generous they are with merit. The only one on your revised list that I know for sure offers merit is Willamette. I guess what I’m trying to say is while your ACT may get you admitted to several of the schools on your list, it may not get you much merit aid. Therefore, I’d search for at least one more school similar to Willamette where you’re likely to not only be admitted, but to get a good merit aid offer.
Update (though it no longer really fits the thread topic): I was defered EA from UChicago, admitted EA to University of Richmond, and just found out I’m a semi-finalist for the 1693 Scholars program at W&M. So I guess I’ll be visiting Virginia sometime soon! Thanks to everyone for their school suggestions!