Texas and Utah have well defined steps for getting in state residency by the second year. It is worth looking into both. I am more familiar with Texas, but my understanding is Utah is even easier.
The section on Establishing Domicile is the most relevant.
https://admissions.utexas.edu/residency
I suggest calling and asking. 
Pitt is very stingy with merit, and has been especially that way in recent years for CS students. Itâs an easy application, so worth the effort, but itâs not a school that one could count on for merit.
Thatâs true for most states but not for Utah (and per the previous post, not for Texas either).
Iâd check out UT-Dallas and U. of Central Florida. I believe at either one if you receive even a small merit scholarship that you would then qualify for in-state tuition. At UCF in-state costs are about $17k or less/year (tuition, room & board), and you might get even more. At UT-Dallas, in-state costs are closer to $26 or $27k, but I suspect youâd be getting additional merit there, too.
Iâd also take a look at some of the big state schools in âflyoverâ states: U. of Iowa, Iowa State, U. of Nebraska, U. of Kansas, etc. They can be very generous in merit aid. They offer very strong programming, but because of their location, they give more money to bring students in.
That sounds amazing, I did not know that UT Dallas gave in state tuition on top of merit. That is definitely worth the consideration.
You are applying as a bio major, so why do the engineering & cs programs figure in at all?
It is easier to list unis that do not have undergrad research possibilities than to list all the ones that do.
Lots of honors colleges are fantastic.
So, what do you actually like about Penn State- or is it just thatâs your big in-state school (which is a perfectly fine reason)?
As per OP:
Definitely apply to Alabama when that application opens. Admissions are rolling. No essay is required. Takes about 10 minutes. And youâll get $28,000 a year. Not sure if CS is considered engineering but engineering students also get $2500 a year.
You can probably get close to your 30 K goal at Auburn. They donât provide nearly the merit that Alabama does but you would still get at least $17,000 a year. Another super easy application, no essays except if you decide to apply to the honors college, and if you applied by September 15 this year you heard by October 15.
Thank you! I absolutely hallucinated that (actually, it was from another post & I mixed the two up)
With Penn State, I mostly just like the programs like Millennium and Fire research programs that you can apply for (although chances of getting are slim) and I have heard a lot about Schreyers as one of the top honors colleges (honors housing, scholarships, priority scheduling, etc).
I am sure there are other schools that have this mix, Penn State is just the school that I thiught of where I know I will only have to pay roughly 30k and also seems to be well known in CS with opportunities for underclassmen research. It also doesnât hurt that I know a ton of people there.
I would also like to apply to grad school, so I thought a well known honors college might be beneficial.
UT Dallas has a CS honors program that might interest you.
Wow, ok, I just finished readinng about this program. It sounds truly fantastic. It seems extremely competitive with only 30 accepted students, and I assume there are a lot of students applying. There is also a test component with some proof based questions, so I will try to prepare. UT Dallas seems like a great school with a plentitude of opportunities and scholarships.
It would be a safety for you, but Miami OH has auto merit. Youâd certainly qualify for merit and likely for the honors program. This chart lists amounts.
Look into Western Carolina. I believe tuition is $5000/year. Western Carolina University - Computer Science
Hm, Iâve never heard of this one, Iâll be sure to search it.
Miami seems like a good school, but I cannot seem to understand their scholarship ranges. For 4.3+ there is a range of 15000-34000, so I cannot understand how one qualifies for more than 15000.
I also tried the npc, collegeraptor as well as the one from the website. Collegeraptor said I didnât even qualify for 15k and the one from miamiu did not even ask for gpa.
Thanks for the recommendation tho, Iâll try to figure out hoq it works
Look at Rose Hulman as well. They even have a handy scholarship calculator.
https://www.rose-hulman.edu/admissions-and-aid/financial-aid/roi-form.html
With UMiami, you just need to apply to figure out the actual merit. They meet 100% of need on their formula. There are full pay or near full pay that get substantial merit.
Apply EA next year for the most opportunities for merit and access to their scholarship rounds.
Most private schools with merit will not give a formula for their levels. It may change each year and will depend on many variables.