Have you looked at UMBC? University of Maryland - Baltimore County. Only slightky above her size range and your budget, but they have some merit for OOS students.
Towson University in the Baltimore suburbs is pretty close to your budget, has a nationally ranked dance team (don’t know if they have a kick line), has some greek life if you want it, and as the old MD “teachers college” offers a broad selection of majors. It may feel a bit too much like a SUNY for her, but it will get her several hours from home if that is her goal.
University of Scranton, UNH and URI might come in at budget with merit.
Lots of LACs and Catholic colleges in PA.
Most have pretty good net price calculators to see a merit estimate.
Lycoming, Geneva, St Vincent College, Allegheny, Gannon, Susquehanna, Messiah, Juniata.
I’d look at SUNY New Paltz (about 7,000 students) and SUNY Buffalo (closer to 30,000 students if she is willing to go larger) as some in-state options that are guaranteed to be affordable.
Don’t count on merit at Penn State. OOS it is at least $40k.
If you want to pay that much, I think Pitt would be a better choice.
Psychology will most likely require graduate school.
@happymomof1 will look at UMBC.
@NEPatsGirl looks like University of Scranton has a religious affiliation
@mommdc we don’t want a catholic college, but I had forgotten that the NPC tools do sometimes consider merit, though sometimes they ask so little, I don’t really know how it’s deciding anything.
@happy1 Buffalo might be a little far (and cold), but we are open to it. Don’t know much about New Paltz
@mommdc good to know about PSU, will have to research that more. Will look at University of Pittsburgh. Yes, graduate school is required for so many things today.
Mary Washington? West Virginia?
BTW Clark U that your other D applied to is supposed to have a strong psychology dept.
@booajo, will look at that.
@mommdc probably too small, not much chance of merit and we really didn’t like Worcester at all.
Albany, Plattsburgh, Oneonta all offer psych programs. I am not a huge fan of Binghamton because I think it’s too big. None of my kids was interested in applying to it for that reason. Also, it didn’t offer the majors two of them wanted.
To address two of your other concerns - my children did the honors programs at their schools, but there are plenty of bright kids at SUNYs other than Bing and SBU, and there are plenty of non- LI students at the upstate SUNY’s. My D’s school did orientation divided by region. She contacted the school and said she couldn’t attend the LI weekend and she met plenty of upstate students at the one she went to. My kids did find some LI kids and it can be nice if some of them have cars.
One other thought is whether your child is a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond kid.
To me, personally, the bottom line is that I can afford to send my kids to a SUNY without loans or debt, whereas most private schools were not that available. I also refuse to fill out the CSS.
It’s a bit farther than the other schools recommended here but Univ North Carolina Wilmington could be interesting to consider. Would likely get some merit which would put cost of attendance in your financially acceptable zone.
I’d check SUNY New Paltz. It’s a good school in a beautiful area. It’s a quick walk to town (3 or 4 blocks). There are outdoor activities nearby (hiking, skiing, etc.) and Manhattan is a 2 hour train ride away. It seems to be a very popular school – I think they get more apps than any other SUNY – so if she applies there as a financial safety make sure she has another SUNY as an academic safety.
SUNY Oneonta may be more remote than she wants. It’s on a hill and it’s wicked cold in the winter. You need to take the bus to get to town. But the size is probably a better fit than someplace like SUNY Buffalo or SUNY Albany. SUNY Geneseo may be a good fit as far as size, but I don’t know their GPA/test score averages. The SUNYs are different, so I’d encourage her to visit so you’re sure she’s comfortable with whichever ones she chooses to use as safeties.
Seconding Towson and UMBC.
What about UNC Charlotte, UNC Asheville, Truman State?
Look into Drake and Butler. Both in nice cities, merit likely.
@austinmshauri good info about the states
@MYOS1634 will look more at Towson and UMBC. The others all stretch the distance a bit too much. We’d do it if something was perfect, like it was for D1, but it’s certainly not ideal.
I would consider SUNY New Paltz as a good option. Younger d’s had a friend who attended there and did well, had a great experience including study abroad a semester in Italy. She had been rejected from her dream school Brandeis and was accepted a Franklin & Marshall but zero money and she decided on New Paltz. Another younger sister of one of d’s friends is in the Honors Program at SUNY Albany, doing well as a Junior and being in Honors comes with a few perks such as early registration for classes, honors dorm and small honors seminars. Neither were in pysch however.
@lexluthor5 :
Based on your family’s constraints and your daugher’s wishes:
which criteria are “must have” (a college won’t be considered if it doesn’t meet that criterion)?
What criteria are “nice to have” (having one or two of these would tip the scales for the college compared to others, but aren’t an absolute necessity)?
@lexluthor5 NY is not listed, but they have a category for “all other states” at the bottom of the list.
@bookmama22 will look more at New Paltz. We could easily make a day trip there to take a look.
@Dustyfeathers I see what you are saying now. That chart didn’t show up well on my phone the other day. It would make Maine around $30K and it seems relatively easy to get, so definitely fits the budget. Will look at Maine further.
@MYOS1634 it’s very hard to say and that’s why it’s going to be a tricky process. Budget is a factor that most likely won’t be overcome. Maybe there’s a little room to stretch, but not much when there are SUNY options at $25K. Something >5K students would be an almost must have. Distance <8 hours drive would be a very nice to have. Co-ed school and no religious affiliation are must haves. Hope that helps some.
Not a whole lot to add here but following with interest because I enjoy your process.
A few small thoughts…
Not personally familiar with UDel or UMD but we know kids who are happy there, so interested to know what you learn.
We liked UVM, but my recollection is that OOS merit wasn’t great.
New Paltz is fun. Beware traffic during leaf peeping season though.