Use the TE list and choose colleges on the list that 1° will offer a tuition remission similar to Nova’s and 2° are likely to accept a student with a 3.4.
Talk with your parents: have they considered you might not get into 'Nova? Would they be okay if you went to a university from the TE list? Do they have savings to pay for room&board?
Do you have a job from which to contribute to your education costs? If not, look for one - it may help convince your parents.
Important: do not speak about “going to college for the experience” with your parents. They’re not going to pay thousands and thousands of dollars for you to have fun somewhere.
(Read the 5-year study Paying for the Party and see what happened to the party floor’s girls whose parents weren’t rich and connected.)
Are UDayton, UScranton, SLU on the list, for instance? I’d recommend St Michael’s (Burlington is an awesome town and you get to ski, kayak, etc, through a special program they have. They even offer a shuttle to the slopes.)
I’m not sure you’d get into USD (which fits your goal of large city and warm weather better than USF, which would be chilly and humid) but it’s worth checking out, too.
Be aware that often a college in a big city is actually less good than living in a college town: because the college is in the city, it doesn’t provide as much entertainment on camps, so you have to pay for it or be 21+ to access it in the city. It’s much easier to find entertainment and fun in a college town where the campus serves as the entertainment hub for students.