<ul>
<li>Female Asian from TN</li>
<li>Mediocre UW GPA - 3.6 ish</li>
<li>Good class rank at one of the top schools in the state - almost top 5%</li>
<li>Ok ECs</li>
<li>34 on ACT without studying - I think I can get it at least one point higher</li>
<li>100% certain I'll be a National Merit Semi-Finalist in Fall</li>
</ul>
<p>Now, can anyone suggest me good matches for my stats? Here's what I'm looking for:</p>
<ul>
<li>non-rural location</li>
<li>smaller school (< 6,000 students)</li>
<li>preferably, it should have a good-sized Asian enrollment, but this isn't 100% necessary</li>
<li>good weather is also a plus</li>
<li>I'd also like good food and a nice campus</li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks for any suggestions. I'll be sure to look into them.</p>
<p>The OP’s criteria quickly narrow down the possibilities to a fairly small set of schools. Villanova, Elon, and CMU all have a little more than 5K undergraduates. The University of Miami has >10K; USC has > 17K. </p>
<p>The OPs criteria and qualifications indicate she is a good candidate for a very selective, small liberal arts colleges (LAC). However, many of these are in rural locations, or in locations with crappy weather (cold, overcast). Most of the selective New England LACs (the NESCAC schools) do not offer merit aid. </p>
<p>Selective LACs or small universities (=<5K students) in locations that have at least 100 days/year of sunshine AND relatively tolerable winter temperatures include:</p>
<p>The Claremont Colleges (Pomona, Claremont McKenna)
Colorado College
Wake Forest University
Davidson College
University of Richmond
Washington & Lee University</p>
<p>Pomona does not grant merit aid.
Claremont McKenna granted only 1 merit scholarship for 2010-2011. (~12% Asian enrollment)
Colorado College for 2009-10 granted 40 merit scholarships averaging ~$10K ea. (~6% Asian)
Wake Forest (2009-10): 69 merit scholarships averaging ~$16K ea. (~6% Asian)
Davidson (2010-2011): 21 merit scholarships averaging ~$24K ea. (~5% Asian)
Richmond: 43 merit scholarships averaging ~$38K ea. (~5% Asian enrollment)
W&L (2010-11) awarded 29 merit scholarships averaging ~$30K each. (~4% Asian enrollment)</p>
<p>All of the above are among the 75 most selective colleges and universities in the USA. All are ranked in the USNWR top 40 (national university or national LAC list).</p>
<p>Other possibilities: Reed (no merit aid,less sunny), Agnes Scott (less selective), Rhodes (less selective), the NESCAC LACs (no merit, less sunny, often rural), Macalester (cold winters).</p>
<p>If you don’t mind staying in your home state of Tennessee, I’d suggest Rhodes College.</p>
<p>It’s in Memphis (non-rural), small (~1700 students), has a strong, popular psychology program (plus potential connections to the city of Memphis for jobs/internships, just an assumption), milder weather than schools in the North, close to home (if that’s a plus), and awesome Gothic architecture (from what I’ve seen). It’s also considerably more affordable than many of the schools suggested so far. You also have a pretty good chance of being accepted, whereas other schools are more difficult to predict.</p>
<p>Tufts seems it might work for you. It’s in Boston (Rather, it’s outside of Boston, but you can see the Boston skyline from the roof top), the campus is beautiful, the food has been ranked as high as 2nd by Princeton Review, good sizable asian population (though it doesn’t dominate), and the undergraduate student body is about 5000.</p>
<p>Yet it’s Boston, so weather isn’t great. Plus, Cali cities are great!</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Another pick might be USC or any california school. Though they are large, they have sizable asian populations and great weather. Not too sure about the food but I am confident it can’t be horrible.</p>
<p>Add Hendrix to TK’s list of LACs and be aware that the schools most likely to offer you merit aid are those that are trying to recruit Asians because they are under-represented in their student population.</p>
<p>^^^^ Another plus for Rhodes is their merit aid levels. In 2010-11, more than 20% of entering first year students got merit aid, averaging >$17K/package. This has to be one of the highest levels of merit aid of any LAC. </p>
<p>Among LACs in general, the most fertile ground for merit money is outside the top 20 or so (except for Grinnell, which is very rich and very selective).</p>