I would vote for the middle ground of Grinnell. I do think there will be more intellectually curious students at Grinnell compared with Gustavus. And also a much more geographically diverse population—which will be more broadening. Hamilton just seems too expensive (that “stretch” thing).
So the relative costs are:
Hamilton: $200,000
Grinnell: $176,000
Gustavus: $116,000
Hamilton and Grinnell are a little bit better – that “meaningless” USNews ranking includes some pretty valid factors that do measure and reflect the academic quality of students and faculty, the school’s capacity to spend money, grad rate, and the level of support at a given school – all things that point to the overall quality of a school.
So if you can afford them, my initial advice would be to choose Hamilton or Grinnell.
But you also want to go to med school, which is very expensive. That extra $84k (vs. Hamilton) you saved could really come in handy.
Consider asking your parents how big an effect that $84k will have on them and on the prospect of med school.
Would Grinnell or Hamilton involve “belt tightening” ( no new car for either parent, no eating out, no vacation beside at the cabin up north) or would it require your parents to take on debt for you or postpone retirement?
Cost exclusive. I agree with @prezbucky directionally (btw did you know there’s a prezbucky2 as well 
) but would say Hamilton more definitively. The others would be excellent as well
Good luck.
My parents are taking on debt for me literally anywhere I go. FA is not great for us because we have a ton of debt from their graduate and pharmacy degrees (which were completed very recently; they went back to school) as well as a house (and $25k of credit card debt… yikes) but of course they have a higher income now. They refuse to let me take on more than 1/3 of my student debt, which I’m thankful for, but I also feel like I’d be ruining their lives by choosing one of these schools that I love. That would leave them with almost $100,000 of debt for Grinnell, and even more for Hamilton. With a brother starting high school in a couple of years, I don’t know if I could live with myself if I saddled them with that much debt. He’s way smarter than me, and gunning for MIT and Caltech. If he got in, he could never turn them down, and that would just leave my parents with another $100k in debt. It’s a bad situation and I have no idea what to do. Even at Gustavus, they would be stuck with $60k-ish in debt.
Oh no! Please, please, please don’t let your parents saddle themselves with any more debt. Do you have any admissions at all that would work with no debt other than the federal loans? Could you do two years at the community college and then transfer to a public U in your state. Could you take a gap year and work up a more affordable list? That you got into Hamilton and Grinnell makes me think that you might be able to get even better merit packages than you have for GA if you look around. Read through the thread on automatic merit scholarships at the top of the financial aid forum. A few of them (UA Huntsville??) are still taking applications. But truly, a gap year and applying for fall 2019 would be better than the debtloads you are considering.
Given your newly expressed info on your family’s finances, go to GA.
I’m a Hamilton alum, and my advice would be to cross it off your list. It’s a great school, but if it’s a stretch financially, and you have an acceptance at Grinnell for less money closer to home, then it’s kind of a no-brainer for me. If you were looking to get a job on Wall Street or in politics right out of school, then I might suggest stretching the finances could be worth it. But Grinnell is an excellent school. It’s probably more intellectually rigorous than Hamilton (at least, that’s the impression I have always gotten), and, honestly, I think it’s more well-known, even out here on the East Coast.
Four hours is plenty far away from home. Hamilton might be in a different part of the country, but I don’t know that you would really feel that so much on campus. I mean, it’s pretty rural and somewhat isolated. It’s a great school, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure it would give you the very different experience you are looking for.
As for between Grinnell and GA, I can’t say. I don’t know anything about GA. But if you’re thinking of going to med school, it’s going to be very important to keep your debt load for undergrad low.
Good luck, and congrats on some wonderful acceptances!
Oh my goodness, I just read about your parents’ debt load. Have you looked at any full-ride schools like Alabama?
@privatebanker
I created prezbucky2 a couple months ago, when the “free amazon gift card” $&@&$&@ thing was taking over my screen every time i logged on. I figured maybe a different ID would avoid the hostile takeover. It didn’t.
The gift card thing still pops up and takes over once in a while – and only on this site – but far less frequently.
OP, with the new info about your folks, go to GA if it is affordable. If not, check out Pitt, New Mexico, Alabama, UA-Huntsville, and Ole Miss… and any others schools with large auto merit scholarships.
Your family can only afford GA. Go there. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on their campus at a family sports camp. It is a solid school, and you can reach your goals from there.
As nobody else has said this, MED SCHOOL. It is true that the majority of students who say that they are pre-med don’t end up there- but 20,000 of them do, and it has to be paid for! Yes, you can get loans, but you want to start with the absolute lowest level of debt possible. Med school admissions are hugely tied to GPA and MCAT, followed by LoR, then essay/experience stuff. GA will prepare you just as well as the other two.
Take your federal student loans (the 5.5k Stafford loans) - the total over 4 years, 27k, is what a college graduate can reasonably pay back over 10 years.
Do you have a job? Can you take on a part time job and live to full time as soon as graduation is over, saving ALL yourbwafes toward college?
Is GA affordable without parent debt then?
@MYOS1634, yourbwafes = your wages?
Ooops… Yes, your wages. .
OP, I am sorry to hear about the financial limitations your family is facing. This new info does change things.
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it is late to be contacting Grinnell’s financial aid office, but maybe you could call and find out if they would give you more aid based on extenuating circumnstances: not the credit card debt, but the student loans.
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Consider a gap year. Work, save money, consider alternatives like including more schools on your list and reapplying.
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However, if your heart is set on attending a LAC next fall rather than taking a gap year, the obvious best option is that you can be the big fish in the small pond at GA. You can bloom wherever you are planted!
Earlier I’d recommended Hamilton for the academic rigour, indications of future earnings potential and overall experience. I perhaps would have also suggested you consider GA for the lower initial cost. After your more recent comments, though, I’d recommend GA.
Sorry to disagree with some of you, but the debtload proposed for GA is more than twice the standard student loans, the parents are in no shape to pay it down, and the OP is contemplating med school. The best option is not GA, but either a quick application to a guaranteed merit place from the list in the Financial Aid Forum, or a gap year and a new list.
Massive parental student loans of their own and home mortgage I might have been able to get past, but the 25k in credit card debt shows me that the parents have no financial cushions left. They may well be managing to meet all of their obligations, but there isn’t any extra at all. If there were, the credit card debt would be gone and/or there would be no talk of borrowing beyond the student loans for the OP’s education. Yes, PLUS loans are easy to qualify for, but these parents are in no shape to pay them off, and they will be the ones technically responsible.
OP, I can understand that your parents don’t want their financial situation to stand in the way of your future, but it does. Be the smart one here. Check the merit scholarship list and see if there is anything that can mean you don’t end up with more than the federal loans in debt. Think through the gap year option. Make the committment to get a good education at a low cost. Yes, this may mean you have to give up the idea of an LAC, but you truly can bloom where you are planted if you determine to do so.
That’s why I asked the questions above even GA maybe unaffordable. We need more from OP.
In addition, it may be worth asking for a financial review of circumstances at both Grinnell and Gustavus Adolphus.
However it may also be necessary to send a quick application to University or Arizona and UNM.
And the Nacac list of colleges that miscalculated yield should definitely be innplayw too.
Except those NACAC schools often don’t offer very good FA to late applicants.
Isn’t Minnesota Morehead more of a LAC feel? Assuming you are a MN resident, you should look at it. They may even still be taking fall applications.