Loyola Chicago as you would get merit. It is Jesuit but we are super open and accepting of all and everyone.
eta: I teach nursing and I am agnostic. I have openly trans and gay along with Jewish and Muslim colleagues. There is 1 required class learning about Jesuits (which they are the give back type of people not the preachy kind) and the other requirements can be filled with philosophy or learning about other religions and such.
Small rather than medium sized, but it might check a lot of other boxes (generous with merit aid) – would Sarah Lawrence be a possibility?
I see it is on your list but UVM was under 50k for my son with merit. It definitely seems like a good fit based on the other things you listed. He took several film classes and creative writing (although his major was economics) and thought both departments had great professors. Very lgbt friendly and great music scene.
SUNY New Paltz might be a good fit and I expect it would be a financial and academic safety.
thank you so much for the suggestions, i’ll be sure to check them out!! i do enjoy creative writing a lot, it’s just that in all the posts i’ve seen of other english majors getting college recommendations people automatically assume that they want a creative writing program, whereas i’ve always leaned more towards the literature side. as for career aspirations, i’m honestly not sure yet…the two things i’m most fond of are definitely not the most employable! hopefully i’ll find my specific passion once i actually go to college!!!
Gotcha. I knew you had one with 15 or 17. Didn’t realize you had 3. Makes sense.
this is really good to hear actually as i’ve heard chicago has a great underground punk scene. i was considering loyola chicago for a second but the jesuit affiliation threw me off (i go to a catholic school so i’ve been wanting to get away from all that). i’m definitely going to look into it now, thank you!!
i know there’s a certain timeframe where all SUNY applications have no fee, so i think i’ll apply to new paltz (and a few others that people have suggested) during that period since it couldn’t hurt (and i def do agree that i’d probably fit there the most personality wise compared to some of the other SUNYs)! thank you 
thank you for the recs!!! i’ve gotten other replies about applying to some SUNYs and you’re absolutely right so now i definitely think i will. also i’ve seen a decent amount of people from my school get into (and attend) URI so i could totally apply there as well!
this is good to know, thank you!!!
i’ve considered it before (i always associate it with kat stratford from 10 things i hate about you cause she mentions it in the movie lol), didn’t know about their merit though! thanks for the suggestion!!!
A number of the Jesuit schools are very welcoming - I think quite a different vibe from Catholic high schools. When we visited Fordham for example (not recommending as I know you want to get out of NY so just a Jesuit example) the student ambassador we interacted with was LGBT. If there are any other Jesuit colleges you’ve scratched off because of this concern, you may want to revisit those.
i totally forgot about the rolling admissions…i was going to apply to my favorite schools last so that i could have more experience with the other essays and stuff first:person_facepalming:
thank you sm for reminding me now i’m going to make sure i apply there first (just waiting on teachers to look over my commonapp essay)
The fee free application period for SUNY is October 20 - November 3 this year.
Since you are now considering SUNYs, I suggest you include Purchase in your consideration.