@intparent & @ucbalumnus & @julliet , My parents are pretty hush hush about how much they make because the county I live in is considered “spoiled” and “wealthy” but they said that by the time I am out of school, they will be in “good shape” to pay for all tuition and other related costs. Their college savings plan is aimed at about $250,000 dollars by the time I am in college. I hope to god that everything stays put and am very thankful for my parents actually thinking about saving so that my sister and I can go to college, I am very fortunate.
@julliet, you are definitely right, some of the schools in state are absolutely amazing. I am definitely looking at UVa as a target if not reach school. The William and Mary liberal arts program is not really what I am looking for but I could be wrong and I would have to read about that. I do know that W&M has a gateway program for engineering where you do like 3 years at W&M and then you get auto-admission to Columbia if you are in good academic standing. Don’t think that I will do that but W&M as it self is a very good school for Law so my Econ teacher tells me so I will definitely keep my eyes open for that. VT is a great engineering/science school and is definitely one I am applying to as a safety or even a target school. To be honest, all of those schools are good for everything and are all near to home, GMU being 15 miles away.
With these schools being in-state, the positives are location but also for example UVa has a lower tuition for in-state applicants and has accepted close to 10 students a year.
Really great feedback, thank you!