Each school’s Common Data Set, section H2A, shows the number of merit scholarships awarded and the average amounts. The same information is presented in the Kiplinger’s “Best College Values” tables. Click-sort on columns 9 and 10.
http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php
Look for schools with average merit scholarships large enough to cover your needs. If N% of students at any of those colleges receive merit scholarships, then presumably you’d want your stats to be well into the top N% at those colleges. This is a fairly crude way to identify schools where you’d have a relatively good shot at adequate *competitive/i merit aid … but it may be about the best you can do. Unfortunately, schools generally don’t publish the average stats of students who get those awards. It’s probably best to assume that the N% who get merit awards are among the top N% for SAT scores and GPA, although ECs etc. must come into play as well.
In my opinion, in your situation, once you’ve identified one or two schools (like Temple, maybe) that guarantee adequate merit aid for your stats, then you’d be better off focusing on schools that provide the best need-based aid for your stats. There just aren’t so many schools in the NE that provide many very generous merit scholarships. If you can find them, you won’t necessarily get a better net price than, or schools you’d prefer over, schools in that region with the best need-based aid. But then, schools with the best n-b aid also tend to be much more selective.