<p>It crosses my mind that Mount Union might meet quite a bit of what you and your parents are looking for. It’s a smallish private school in a small city (Alliance, Ohio) that is close to Cleveland and Akron. They have nurturing, caring faculty and good academics. They have an amazing football scene - tailgating and school spirit to challenge any large school. They are very often in the DIII national championship for football. You would receive some nice merit aid there with an ACT of 30; I believe this is in range for their Presidential Scholarship.</p>