Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback – we are very appreciative. I haven’t had the chance to respond until now but we have been reading the responses and have found them very helpful. In response to the questions:
(1) Finances are not irrelevant, but we still wanted to look at the other factors to do a cost/benefit analysis. None of the privates offered financial/merit aid.
(2) The reason for transferring is the existing school’s “personality” is not a good fit for SmallFry – which was not apparent until a month or so in. This personality would be a draw for many others. SmallFry is pretty familiar with the schools on the list and knows people at nearly all of them – and now knows better what to look for. SmallFry is mostly indifferent to type of campus.
This is for fall 2020. At this point we are down to the wire - most of the required response dates have passed. We have put a deposit down on one school and are still considering another . Forgive me for omitting certain details – if SmallFry permits, I will share the final outcome.