Don’t take it personally that certain words you used were blocked - the list of disallowed words was chosen years ago and the blocking is automated.
Kudos for explaining yourself so articulately and for advocating for yourself. You have given that environment every chance; knowing when to pull the plug is a very important life skill, whether it’s a college, a job, or a relationship.
If you are sufficiently low-income, you could try applying to Berea College; their transfer acceptance rate is relatively low, and your GPA might not get you in, but there’s no harm in trying. Berea admits only low-income students, and is tuition-free; other expenses are covered through an on-campus work program. The school and the alumni network are highly supportive, giving students access to great career opportunities. A reach, but worth a try; hopefully they’re aware that Grinnell is relatively grade-deflated. This may be the one option that would still get you through debt-free. The downside is that it’s still a small-LAC environment… but I would expect the experience to be quite different from Grinnell.
If SUNYs work financially, SUNY ESF could be worth a look. It’s very environmentally-oriented but is good for other sciences too. It is physically adjacent to Syracuse U, which provides additional social/extracurricular opportunities in addition to cross-registration. Could be best-of-both-worlds in terms of providing a more intimate community but also a larger social pool for branching out. (Also robust disability services via Syracuse, if that’s a criterion.) Their Biotechnology major might dovetail nicely with your interests, and give you some additional avenues to explore. Academic Programs - Biotechnology, B.S. They don’t have a straight-bio major but they do have biochem.
I agree that Whitman could be a good one to look at; they offer merit pre-reads, if NPC results indicate that you’d need merit to fill a gap between your EFC and what need-based aid would cover. This recent thread might be of interest: Whitman vs Grinnell College (Spoiler: student chose Whitman!)
Earlham is even tinier than Grinnell but has a super-friendly reputation and pretty deep pockets vis-a-vis aid. Their retention rate is on the lower side as well, but I haven’t heard that any social harshness is the reason… and their transfer acceptance rate is high as a result - over 85% based on a cursory search. (And they do meet 100% of documented need for transfers.) The student in this thread had somewhat different parameters from yours, but the thread covered a lot of interesting ground, and the parent returned at the end of the thread with a positive report on the student’s experience: Earlham College 3/2 Engineering & Chemistry program (ETA: Earlham has announced some budget cuts recently, but they’re well-endowed and I think it’s more a matter of being responsible for the long haul vs. being in true financial distress.)