Hi everyone! I got accepted to Depaul University, which is currently my first choice school since getting deferred from Harvard. I received my financial aid award today, and there is just no way I can afford to go to Depaul. I’m extremely crushed and lost at this point. I really don’t have any idea where to go so I was wondering if anyone would be willing to give me suggestions?
I got a 32 on my ACT and my gpa is a 4.1.
I’m really liberal and I know it isn’t extremely important but I’m trying to avoid super conservative schools.
Ive been looking into bigger cities because I really enjoy big cities but at this point I’m open to nearly anywhere.
I’m looking to major in either international relations or political science.
Any feedback would be deeply appreciated because I am so lost right now!! Thank y’all in advance 
You need to concentrate on schools that promise to meet financial need. DePaul is not wealthy enough to do that.
It’s kind of late to apply to most such schools, but here’s a list of who’s still accepting apps.
http://www.collegesimply.com/guides/application-deadlines/
Compare it with this list of schools that cover 100 percent of estimated need
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/list-of-colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/
there are quite a few schools on both lists, but time is running out. You will need to hustle hard to make these deadlines
Looks like you are from Ohio. Ohio has some great public universities - there’s Ohio State and Miami University, both of which you’d be very competitive for given your stats. Miami is widely recognized as a “public Ivy”; it’s a bit smaller than the average public university (about 17,000 undergraduates) - only slightly larger than DePaul. It’s not in a bigger city, but university students in college towns tend to make their own fun.
Ohio State is in a big city, so you have that. You’re also really competitive for Ohio State as well. At both places you’re only a bit above the middle 50% accepted student - which means that even though you have great chances of admission, you’re likely to be surrounded by very intelligent, ambitious, and driven students in each place.
The regular decision deadline for both is February 1, so you’ll have to get moving if you haven’t already applied.
You may also want to check out American University - great for IR and political science, and located in DC. Fordham might be another good alternative. No guarantees that the financial aid will be better than DePaul, but it’s worth a shot.
These were all so much help, thank you so much!