The University of Denver does give a lot of merit so that’s worth a look. It’s in a residential part of Denver, not a suburb, and a quick light rail ride from downtown.
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Check out the Charleston Fellows and International Scholars. My kid has free tuition. They are the creme de la creme of Charleston.
U of SC in Columbia is also aggressive.
But you need beyond aggressive.
Against your price points - there will have to be trade offs.
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Definitely check out UofSC!! I am an OOS student who was awarded a merit scholarship equal to instate tuition
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Has he considered UPenn? It should be in the “generous need-based aid” category, and the ED acceptance rate is a bit higher than Columbia’s (even including all of the Penn ED applicants who are gunning for Wharton) and the admitted student stats a hair lower. It certainly fits the “urban campus” template, and it’s not too hard to get to NYC and/or DC from Philly.
USC seems like a great fit, but I fear it’ll be in the NYU not-as-generous genre aid-wise, without NMF.
SDSU Weber Honors may hit the sweet spot for an affordable, urban in-state option with a high-achieving honors cohort. Have you compared what SDSU would cost, vs. the UC’s, for your particular financial profile?
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No, sorry. I came to this thread late and didn’t see the 11k budget.
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@DramaMama2021 To add on to my previous post, McGill also offers merit awards
Entrance scholarships for future undergraduates - McGill University
And I recall that they are very generous with AP credit (and perhaps DE credit), so that a student with a lot of AP credits could choose to matriculate in 3 years instead of 4, which would also be a big cost savings.
And my recollection from 2 years ago was that if a student moves off campus, rent and groceries were very reasonable.
So, likely not down to 11k, but much less expensive “list price” than comparable US institutions.
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He was actually very interested in Penn a few months ago. We were maybe going to look at it on our road trip but then he just fell in love with NYC and we didn’t end up going. So he has never been to Philadelphia, but from the virtual tour it seems like a great urban campus and good fit. And I just did the NPC on their website and it came back $11,417 ! But I worry about him being one of those people who applies to so many reaches when he has a tiny chance of getting into any of them and then he’ll be disappointed. It’s such a conundrum when those are some of the schools offering the most money (at least on their calculators).
I ran the NPC on San Diego State and it came back at $30,240 
And yes, USC does not look like it would be nearly as generous as some of the other privates.
We are definitely going to spend some time looking at the McGill website this weekend.
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My D23 had similar wishes for setting (loves Boston), but we had big financial need. So she wound up compromising and reasoning that she can do a DC semester and study abroad to get the “city” experience she wants. She is also planning to try for law school in a city setting. But for the admissions cycle, two of the generous schools we targeted were Davidson (waitlisted) and W&L (accepted/attending) as full-needs schools that we felt were perhaps reachable bc of a more holistic review approach. W&L’s COA for us will be 9K (without loans or work study/lower than our original NPC) while our son is in school for the next two years. I think it goes up to like 16K per their estimate after that. She also had the option of Dickinson (accepted/would have been about 15K with merit and need-based). They’re not full-need but were pretty generous.
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I think it will check all his boxes except cost – large size, top-notch school with great academics in what many think is a wonderful city to be a college student in.
Paging @kelsmom to ask if a US student can get federal student loans to study in Canada?
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Here is the current list of international schools that participate in U.S. federal aid programs: Federal Student Aid. McGill is on the list.
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I am excited to learn more about it! It seems like a great option. I went to Montreal one time, about 25 years ago, and I remember it was such a beautiful city. S24 has never been out of the country but he is a pretty adventurous and independent guy so he would probably like the international aspect.
I know a young woman who graduated from McGill. She loved it! She’s back in the U.S. now, working in a job she loves.
There are some public schools that offer full-rides. He would be competitive for Pitt’s Chancellor’s scholarship. NC State in Raleigh has the Park scholarships.
What about WUSTL in St. Louis or University of Chicago? Tulane?
He might get a bump at a smaller LAC. I’ve seen threads where they’re looking for males because the ratio is skewed towards females. Just a thought.
I sent you a DM. Let me know if you have trouble accessing it.
Oh that’s good news!
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Do I just reply to thread to message back?
Yes – inside the DM you can “reply to thread” or you can reply to the specific message that I sent you.
I look forward to learning what you find out about McGill.
It was one of my D21’s favorites but she ultimately did not apply due to covid. She had visited and loved it. But I was not aware that federal aid could be applied or that they had merit scholarships for US kids. This is great information to have on CC for Match Me and College Search posts. Thank you to @MMRose for digging in on the financial options.
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This makes me think about colleges that participate in the National Student Exchange. Perhaps finding a lower-cost option at a college that’s not in a big city but which participates in the exchange would offer the possibility of at least spending a year on an urban campus?
https://nse.org/exchange/colleges-universities/alpha-location/
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