Our personal budget is closer to 60k and my daughter will probably study something in the STEM world like chemistry or health sciences. She still has at least a year figure out her final list and is still unsure of the size she prefers.
I realize some of these will be above 50k, but the question was where do these types of kids go that have high stats with no hooks, so I figured my list might help in one way or another.
agreed- they absolutely go āeverywhereā and every school (including Harvard) has smart kids and slackers, etc. The perfect fit is often lucky - even when you find it on paper, itās gotta be right when you get there - good roommate, good profs, etc. Thereās so many unknowns.
Itās why every year - we come across some kids who found the perfect fit that either drop out or look to move on / transfer.
How small is too small?
Trinity College gets no love on these boards for some reason, but is a NESCAC that gives merit.
Hartfordās not that far from Maine, right?
If you take the Niche surveys even as directional, itās likely not a fit - these are the top three things students say about students:
Preppy, privileged, unmotivated - 43%
Hard working and down to party - 15%
Preppy, happy, motivated - 15%
Which might explain why it gets no love here.
Also demonstrates the dangers of depending on these polls/rankings. Not sure why anyone would want to go if that were true.
The families that I know who had kids just graduate are neither preppy or unmotivated (one is an African-American family and decidedly un-preppy).
OP will have to check it out for themselves, but those kids are great, loved Trinity, and have great post-grad options.
I personally like niche - directional of course. Itās from surveys but from how many ? Then thereās other sources. So much info.
Visiting and / or talking with student ambassadors might be a better way to truly learn about the school.
So the urban requirement is somewhat flexible-she says the larger the better, but as long as thereās more than just the college she will be happy. Suburban is fine if thereās an easy way to get to the city.
Anthropology is out-apparently that is āstaleā news Iām just learning of 
But itās smart to start by looking at the program offerings-lots of the great suggestions donāt have linguistics majors. No Whitman, Occidental, Union, Connecticut, Lafayette, Case Western, St Olaf and Middlebury (strange-they have so many languages). Our flagship doesnāt have it either.
She says the type of linguistics she wants is historical and mainly computational-she codes, has math up to linear algebra. And then the neuroscience connections. Brandeis, Rochester, Umass and Tulane all look like they have good undergrad computational linguistics offerings. San Diego and Arizona have them too, but it seems they are less strong? Pittsburgh, Binghamton, William & Mary and Vermont do not seem to have much beyond one or two courses. We donāt know how to evaluate this, though-it could be that they arenāt emphasizing them. Anyone with more info about computational linguistics who is willing to suggest/clarify would be appreciated.
For W&M-she also doesnāt like that they listed under benefits for the 1693 scholars āTrips and programs (Examples: first-year canoe trip, FroYo Fridays, service day at the Rob Till Community Garden, escape rooms, trip to the VA Museum of Fine Arts, Homecoming, and Family Weekend).ā She says-āsounds dumb.ā Again She is full of opinions today-in a way, itās good that Iām asking her when sheās not equivocating.
She doesnāt want Great Books-too āall over the place.ā She still wants to take lots of lit classes.
As for university size-she doesnāt mind if itās big as long as the classes are smaller. I donāt know if honors programs at state universities do this. I think having a niche major would-maybe linguistics counts. So would skipping to upper-level classes.
So as suggested by someone above, the five things would be-computational linguistics offered, small classes, most classmates at her academic level, as urban as possible, less than 50000 yearly.
I see that the two limiting factors are computational linguistics and less than 50000. We thought 100000 yearly was the rate only at the very top. Looks like thatās the rate at the top of the sliding scale at several of the privates, though. We may look at that again-the point is not to force them out of their interests. Itās how much weāre choosing to afford. The assumption was-tuition at the top is 60000, so they pay 10,000 of that plus room and board. But that is maybe out of date.
Thanks again, everyone.
Tulane is looking like an option-it has a specialization she wants. Can you go into the process more?
I donāt think a binding application will be comfortable for her.
@dfbdfb is a linguistics prof - heāll have great responses.
Some Honors (Arizona) have costsā¦some donāt. Usually they are āsomeā classes but not all. So the student could have 500 person lecturesā¦or many today go asynchronous (theyād have a choice - lecture or on their own). And yes, typically, in the major, youāll go smaller and for some majors, even entry classes. You can ask each school.
For what itās worth, I went through the edurank rankings - and tops under $50K maybe - was UMASS. Itās near $60K OOS - but might there be a merit possiblity - well, there is but will she get enough. Itās also universally known as a top food school - and food for many is important. My kids, as an example, got low blood sugar from not eating and we hear similar stories from others.
Next is Ohio State - about $58K but again, a merit opportunity.
Then Ga Tech - right at $50K - aid unlikely.
Purdue - will be under (slightly) full price.
Arizona - will be under with auto merit.
Then U Buffalo (SUNY) - great for cost
Then UMN - prices going up but likely will come in.
These are all big and with the exception of Purdue, are all in large cities (easy airport access).
Have you thought of McGill?
Worldās best Computational Linguistics universities [Rankings]
Early Decision means - you get in - youāre in. Itās binding - you withdraw all other apps.
Given you are full pay and their tuition is $72K (this year) and room and board about $20K so $92K for just tuition, room and board - youād be on the hook if she got in.
Youād have to drop all other apps.
So thatās a no go for you.
The Tulane Common Data Set shows 1153 women and 685 men enrolled or 1838.
Of those, 1,156 were ED applicants - so they get in and are bound. They have to withdraw from all other schools. So 63% of their class was filled this way - but that # is a bit impacted - because it will include athletes.
If you remove the 1946 ED apps and 1156 ED acceptances, you are left with:
30,657 applicants (non-ED) and 3,402 acceptances - so an 11% acceptance rate - but then, as a full pay, is $92K (next year) getting to $50K or less? Given they note scholarships up to $32K, likely not.
Per the CDS, 416 got merit averaging $21K.
If she really loves it, she can apply as a Hail Mary - but I donāt see how itās going to happen.
Hope that makes sense.
Tulane does like its ED students, but it definitely takes students EA. RDā¦is extraordinarily tough. But if someone shows that they are really interested in Tulane, then acceptance is definitely possible. And Tulane offers a number of very generous merit awards. The admissions office can award up to $32k, they have a variety of full tuition scholarships (Deanās, Paul Tulane, and other full tuition options, and it has the Stamps program which offers a full ride.
With an EA application and demonstrated interest, I definitely think that Tulane could result in an acceptance and, potentially, with significant merit aid for an applicant of this caliber.
See - a Hail Mary 
But unlikely - i think also true - but yes, possible.
If applying to Tulane, definitely apply early though (EA if not ED). I donāt remember the exact figure but our high school counselor said Tulane fills something like 70% of its class between ED and EA - not a college you want to leave to RD if you can help it.
In that respect, U. of Maryland is kind of like Tulane. Apply EA or donāt bother applying (UMD fills up over 95% of its seats in EA, I believe). And UMD has the Banneker/Key scholarships, which can mean a full ride here, as well.
Applying EA to Ohio State is important as well if one wants to be considered for its big scholarships which includes the Stamps Eminence (full ride) and Morrill (which varies between full tuition and a full ride, depending on the level).
In fact, I strongly suspect that to be eligible for a schoolās big scholarships that one generally needs to apply by their EA deadline, if they have one.
Barrett is the name of the honors program at Arizona State University. The one at University of Arizona is named for W. A. Franke.
and the nicest dorm youāll see anywhere - with a dining hall on the bottom and gym and counseling center adjacent.
Oops, and thanks for the correction. Iāve updated my post. And here is info on Arizonaās Franke honors college.
Bonus: Oxy is in a fun, trendy, fairly safe part of LA.
Utahās honors college (where my D attended) would match these criteria including budget (thereās merit for 4.0 students and you can get instate tuition after the first year). Potentially a good safety.
But I noted your comments about not liking the ātripsā that W&M offers. Utah is a very outdoorsy college, campus tends to empty out at weekends when everyone is off skiing, backpacking, climbing etc.
can it get to $50k-ish? Direct cost today is $89K. 148 of 509 got merit so 29% - averaging $17,400.
It looks like they have some up to $35K - and two full ride spots - but one for middle class (not OP) and one for specific high schools in LA.