Denison could give 1/2 tuition merit - about $24-25k for high achieving kids. Denison does give full merit, but the kids we met at admitted student days who received full merit had also been admitted to Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and were choosing between full tuition merit or full pay.
Kalamazoo, Earlham, Beloit, Lawrence, Wooster, Knox may have more latitude in strong merit. Those midwest LACs have lower list price as compared to Oberlin etc., so a 1/2 tuition merit award at those schools can leave only about $22-24k in tuition plus about $10 in room and board. So, more like $35k after merit.
Dickinson maxes out at around $20k, as does St. Lawrence.
Do you think that I should focus on larger universities with honors colleges then? Would that give a similar experience to an LAC but with a lower price tag?
I would look at Knox. My daughter was really impressed by the atmosphere and the opportunities for writers there.
She plans to major in creative writing as a rising first year at Oberlin and we did a lot of research. They have good merit for someone with your stats whereas the other schools mentioned above might be a reach for you and not offer good money. Denison is the exception, they may give you a decent amount but they don’t have a creative writing major that I’m aware of - though I think they have a concentration within English. Another surprising one is Bucknell, they are recruiting writers there because the program isn’t as well known. We loved the campus and the faculty were very excited to bring in new writers. Best of luck!
If the parents chip in 30K and you get a federal student loan and/or a job, you can have a budget of 35K, which will be quite doable at a LAC in the Midwest or the South IF you have top grades and test scores. Harder on the coasts, though.
As a first pass, use collegedata.com to look up a college. Click on money matters. They will show the percentage of students with no need who got merit awards and the average amount. You need an amount over 10K to even look further at a school. Next look at the percentage of students who got that award and try to be in the top X percentage of the application pool.
I looked up Kenyon - their average merit award is almost 19K, and it went to the top 10% of their applicants. You may need to go lower in the rankings such as the Colleges That Change Lives group (and similar schools that are not in that marketing group) since you need a half-tuition scholarship and your stats may not be top 10% at Kenyon. Try Knox.
Once you have some possibilities from collegedata, run the school net price calculators. An NPC that asks for your GPA and test scores will usually estimate your merit aid.
Be sure to choose some schools in your state system or regional tuition compact where the total price tag is lower as a financial safety school in case the merit aid does not come through.
Agree with @AroundHere on looking at the Colleges that Change Lives as substantial merit scholarships at schools such as Grinnell, Kenyon, Oberlin and similar is going to the top-10%, or less of candidates - DD who received the John N. Stern Scholarship, which totaled $30k/yr, was told it was only granted to 24 students.
@Lindagaf, agree on Bates. Our DD’s are down to the final three weeks to make their decision and are attending three Accepted Student Days with Bates on the list - there were some other acceptances that were “ranked” higher by USNWR that they are passing on as you don’t live, learn and grow for four years in a school’s ranking - and when they are all top-25 LAC it’s splitting hairs regardless…
Denison (great aid), Dickinson, Whitman, Kalamazoo (great aid), Smith. We have a lot of respect for all these schools. None seem snooty or competitive. Good luck!
Agree with suggestion above: look up the Colleges That Change Lives group at ctcl.org. Many of the member schools have already been mentioned here. Try to get to one of the events or presentations if you can.