<p>If you’re flexible with the under 50% acceptance rate, consider St. Louis University. It has about 8,000 undergrads, but about 5,000 graduate students. Its english offerings seem pretty extensive <a href=“http://www.slu.edu/Documents/arts_sciences/english/Spring2013CD(1).pdf[/url]”>http://www.slu.edu/Documents/arts_sciences/english/Spring2013CD(1).pdf</a> (this just shows the course offerings for Spring 2013, so the actual offerings will be much greater). It boasts 26 faculty members ( [English</a> Department Faculty : Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences : SLU](<a href=“http://www.slu.edu/english-department/faculty]English”>http://www.slu.edu/english-department/faculty) ), so you’re basically guaranteed to find at least a few excellent English professors</p>
<p>Like many posters, I’m somewhat surprised you’re not considering Truman State. Though it’s not private, nor does it have under a 50% acceptance rate, it does offer PLENTY of english courses [Courses</a> - Truman State University - Acalog ACMS?](<a href=“Courses - Truman State University - Acalog ACMS™”>Courses - Truman State University - Acalog ACMS™) and has quite a few English faculty. Besides, IMO, many students will be from the St. Louis area, so finding transportation back home shouldn’t be an issue.</p>
<p>If you’re flexible with the 50% admit rate, Illinois Wesleyan University seems to have a pretty decent English department [Illinois</a> Wesleyan: English - Course Descriptions](<a href=“http://www.iwu.edu/english/courses/Course-Descriptions.html]Illinois”>http://www.iwu.edu/english/courses/Course-Descriptions.html) [Illinois</a> Wesleyan: Department of English Faculty and Staff](<a href=“http://www.iwu.edu/english/facultystaff/]Illinois”>Department of English Faculty and Staff | Illinois Wesleyan) IWU emphasizes writing to an extreme degree, so you’ll still be writing paper after paper in your gen ed classes. Additionally, they offer a program where they essentially temporarily import faculty from the nearby Illinois Sate University. I’m not sure how that works, but it’s worth asking about. Assuming you’re competitive for WUSL, you’ll probably get enormous merit aid from them.</p>