<p>I think the OP’s top priority is going to have to be cost. And I agree with @whenhen, I can’t see how you afford anything but community college for two years and then a transfer to a state school, maybe taking a couple of gap semesters to work and earn money. You aren’t going to get need based aid because your parents make enough that they COULD pay something toward your education. But you can only borrow $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 soph year, and $7,500 each in junior and senior year. That is a total of $28,000 over 4 years. Say you earn $3000-4000/year working. So you have a total of about $8000/year to work with. It will go a lot further if you can live at home for all of your time in college. </p>
<p>I would NOT take out additional private loans to go to college with the majors you have listed, none of them are high paying. You will have a terrible time making enough money to pay them back in a reasonable amount of time, and the debt will dog you into your 40s.</p>
<p>It is time for a serious conversation with your parents to see how much they will pay. Then you have to figure out what is in your budget. A lot of your list of “wants” are going to go out the window due to your financial situation.</p>
<p>The northeast is the whitest area of the US; because most colleges have a strong local or regional bias in where their students come from, it would not be surprising if the combination of these two criteria screened out a lot of colleges before you even get to your other criteria.</p>
<p>Temple University would meet most of your criteria, but cost would probably be an issue for an out-of-state student. Temple does have merit awards, but the large scholarships are for students with very high GPA and SAT/ACT.</p>
<p>If your family is at 120k with a sibling in college at the same time. If your a strong enough student for an elite full need school. You may receive a healthy amount of financial based on need alone. </p>
<p>You should also try the same search on SuperMatch (linked on the left side of this page). Using both search engines will give you a good starting point for checking NPCs, or for investigating colleges further.
You live in Virginia, a state with well-regarded public universities. How do you feel about any of your public options?</p>
<p>If your parents aren’t helping you pay for school at all, I’d consider retaking the SAT in the fall to try to increase your score by a couple hundred points to try to qualify for merit awards. If you check the stickied threads on top of the financial aid page, there’s one that lists guaranteed aid for different SAT scores. I wouldn’t take out private loans for the types of majors you’re considering. </p>
<p>If you can’t get merit aid, is there a college you can commute to so you can save room and board costs? Could you attend a cc and transfer to a 4-year school? Getting an education in the field you want without racking up a lot of debt should be your highest priority. If you get any of the other things on your list, that’s an added bonus. Good luck.</p>