I feel this thread can help students even without total specifics. We had an unconventional search as far as cc was concerned too. We didn’t bother with rankings. We looked as schools that S17 liked (no dream school). He decided for his major/interests he wanted a land grant school with a vet school attached (only exception one in state who will be opening a vet school). All true safeties but one which had a little financial reach.
We learned look for schools good in your major. Some lower ranked schools have great departments. Lower ranked can still be academically challenging when taking good programs. Graduation rate from high acceptance schools can be deceiving. S17 does not know anyone that isn’t graduating unless they are in 5 year combined degree programs. Did see some very low stat students that didn’t even want to go to college leave the first semester. He also knows several kids that came in like that and are now thriving.
Greek has been great for our son to our surprise.
So bottom line good schools with great FA (we paid about $20 - 23k per year including r&b) can be found in unlikely places and what is great for one student may not be for another. Going to school in fly over country isn’t always settling.
Good luck in your journey!