You might reconsider ECU. The city of Greenville, NC has received several multi-million dollar $$$ grants (1 of 2 awarded from the feds) to revitalize and refurb its uptown district and medical district which are all walkable from ECU’s main campus. They have a brand new life sciences building going up (quickly) on the corner with Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and other eateries. A new bridge opened 3 months ago joining the medical district with the main campus. Buses are very plentiful while traffic is not. I have not researched the creative writing major or if there is one however, many undergrads change their majors while in college. So ECU would provide many alternatives if she changes her mind.
I know ECU has a party/fun reputation (not always a bad thing) but with one of the 4 med schools in the state AND 1 of 2 dental schools it does have a a very academic path as well. ECU’s med school has one of the lowest tuitions in the US if not the lowest, and only accepts NC residents. They fought for years to get the 2nd dental school (DDS) which UNC-CH resisted FOREVER. They just completed the new cardiology towers, part of the Vidant Regional Med Center. One of the largest hositals in the southeast, rivaling Grady and Miami.
The university is changing and rapidly. I would not overlook ECU. My niece (nursing) and nephew attend App State and love it. Son (micro, biochem, genetics) and daughter (animal science) graduated from NCSU and both really enjoyed their experiences. Same son attended UNC-CH for his MD and MBA. Another son graduated from NCA&T with a mech engineering degree. So we have toured and seen many of the NC colleges.
I know you mentioned your daughter is an A/B student but at ECU she might be eligible for some merit depending on her scores. Their tuition is beyond reasonable and many of their dorms are new (as in just completed or will be finished in a few months). They resemble many of the new apts going up all around Raleigh.
Washington, NC is extremely close and provides great waterside views and inlets. UNC Wilmington does have a fantastic marine bio program for anyone reading.
Hope this helps and if you have more questions just ask.
I think many of the UNC schools have great OOS tuition with some really great programs. But we avoided that when moving here!!
Kat