I think she needs to rank what is most important to her. Some of the schools may have one thing but not another and you may eliminate some good options if she/you are fixed on the size.
For me, first (and non negotiable) factor was cost. We set that at the instate flagship rate ($15000) and went from there.
Wish list:
$15000 budget
size of 3000
majors (engineering for one, theater for one)
living on campus
location
for one, sports team
Well, the first thing to go was that 3000 size. One ended up at ~10,000, the other at 3500 on campus but the school has a large online presence so it is reported at 9500. Not a big deal. Classes are still small and they had friends from classes and other activities.
Both were open to location and ended up at schools 2000 miles apart (so when I say open, I mean OPEN!)
I think your first priority has to be cost. To stay at $15k, you need to be looking at the CT schools that aren’t the flagship. If she doesn’t want to stay in CT, then she needs to look south or west. There are a lot of smaller private schools in the Carolinas that could give nice merit awards, but they are going to be small (2000 students). Look at Queens, Limestone, Presbyterian, Wingate, Wofford. Some of the better deals in the west are at state universities, so usually a little bigger than 6000 students.