<p>IDad and I crossposted - some of his points in his last post about diversity and schools that cater to “white, suburban, wealthy” are what I’m dancing around with Davidson and St. Os. He will provide some geographic diversity, etc to a number of small LACs, the problem is will he be comfortable going there - and that might require a visit. Occidental, Pomona, not a problem, St. O’s and Davidson, maybe a problem.</p>
<p>What about Univ of Chicago? Too urban, it is a place that I think of as been almost apolitical, but it doesn’t exactly have a LAClike atmosphere.</p>
<p>A few more SAT points, and he might be in the low Ivy range, that would solve the money problem and open up some schools like Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst - each one though has something glaring that doesn’t fit your description, so it could become a trade-off issue. A ood writer from a lower income background, living on a fish farm, with a set of 700 SATs, strong curriculum, and an A average sounds like a pretty good shot (not a lock, mind you, but a shot) at some very selective, and highly endwed schools, which would meet his financial need.</p>