I mentioned these two above, but I still think they’d be good options for you to consider, and for one, the window for scholarship consideration for next school year has already opened.
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Wofford: Have your high school counselor nominate you for for the Wofford Scholars program. The nomination window for class of 2024 is now open and will close September 15. Since the start of school can be such a busy time for everyone, including counselors, this is a good time to get on the list. The scholarships can be worth between $60-250k over a 4-year period, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up on the higher end. As a Wofford Scholar you would also be eligible for consideration for the Richardson Family Scholarship, a full ride plus extra perks.
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Furman: From the description, it seems as though you’d be competitive for the James B. Duke Scholarships which offers a full-ride. And if you don’t receive one, I think they would still give you generous merit aid.
These are some schools that have swing-for-the-fences opportunities that results in a full ride for a very small number of students that you may want to consider. These schools probably are not as challenging to get merit aid as at Duke & Vandy, but these will definitely still be quite challenging.
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Lehigh (PA ): about 5500 undergrads; scholarship info
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Santa Clara (CA): about 5900 undergrads; Merit Scholarships - Financial Aid - Santa Clara University. These aren’t verdant green mountains like in Arkansas and the Appalachians, but much hillier than Louisiana.
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Wake Forest (NC): about 5500 undergrads; scholarship info
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U. of Richmond (VA): about 3200 undergrads; scholarship info
This school only offers up to full tuition, but I don’t think the applicant pool would be as competitive as for the four schools just above.
- California Lutheran: about 2600 undergrads; scholarship info. And there’s some definite hills and ridges by Cal Lutheran, too.
Some of these schools do have religious affiliations. Santa Clara is a Jesuit institution. Most Jesuit schools have a strong orientation towards service, are very open to people of all (and no) faiths, and tend to be supportive of LGBTQ students (all of the above are true for Loyola New Orleans, which you may also want to consider). For Lutheran churches that are part of the ELCA Synod (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America…not to be confused with “evangelical” churches that are frequently nondenominational), they also tend to be more progressive and supportive of the LGBTQ community. Obviously, you would want to research more about these (and any) schools on the issues that you care about, but I believe the religious institutions listed here would be affirming of all their students.