Make sure the free 5th year includes the major(s) you want. I am pretty sure it is only for selected majors.
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@MMRose the Public Administration program looks EXACTLY like something I’d be interested in.
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@barbthewarrior That’s wonderful! So happy to hear that.
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Without taking residential data into account yet, here’s how the schools you suggested/defunct engine rundown to me:
NAU
OKLAHOMA
MONTANA
CENTRAL OK
OK ST
MONTANA ST
AMERICAN
OCCIDENTAL
CLARK
Run the NPC for Earlham. I suspect it’d be a great fit for language, study abroad, and your social justice interrsts.
@gardenstategal I’ve heard Earlham is a socially conservative religious school.
@barbthewarrior , you have heard wrong!
Check it out. Very liberal and diverse, huge commitment to social justice, excellent teaching, known for great and innovative study abroad. DS looked at this one (we knew nothing about it) and we were very impressed. And since then, I have learned that several “wow” people I have met over the years were alums.
It is in a conservative state. And it is Quaker and has a separate Divinity school.
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TY @gardenstategal for disabusing me of my misperceptions! :). Is it a big school? Is it relatively suburban?
It’s small – 900 students!
And it’s in Richmond, Indiana - a small city in the middle of rural Indiana.
According a Google search, Princeton Review ranked them pretty high on the “Most Liberal” list.
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I’m a huge Jesuit university fan as they are not churchy but rather huge on social justice.
You can check out some different majors and their required courses here at Xavier for example.
https://www.xavier.edu/modern-language-and-international-economics/index
Or Gonzaga.
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@2plustrio how much of a “proper” campus does Xavier have? I know the school is in Cincinnati.
Totally get this, particularly with your geographical background. I just want to put out there that some colleges with large numbers of students can be pretty homogeneous and some schools, even though they have fewer students, may have a more diverse student body. The thing that impressed me about Clark and Occidental is that they expand their courses into their communities. Clark has a real international world view. These types of programs can really broaden your experience and get a student out of the campus bubble.
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If you are interested in Arabic or Mandarin, you do NOT have to wait for college! Look up STARTALK summer immersion programs. These are US government funded programs that high schoolers can attend. Clearly, someone in the US gov’t realized that we need people proficient in these languages, and that language is best learned young - so at least they’re now funding programs for high schoolers.
Take a look at UMass Amherst. It’s the flagship state U for MA, and is very strong on languages, including Arabic and Mandarin. Plus it’s in the five college consortium, so you can take classes at the other colleges, too. It’s big. It’s beautiful. It’s got a gorgeous honors college campus. The food is fantastic. And they give merit money - you could get as much as 16K/yr in merit aid, which would bring your annual OOS cost down to about 30-35K, I think. Academically, it’s on a level with U Md. I think that you would need to bring your grades up a little, to qualify for merit money. Good standardized test scores would help, too. But a 3.4 would probably get you admitted.
You should know that currently, private school tuition plus room and board runs about 75K/yr. OOS public schools’ total cost of attendance is more like 50 - 70K/yr, unless you get merit money.
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Virtual campus tours online and google maps (and use street view) would be your best resources for this. Xavier does have a campus with green space.
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@2plustrio I’ll DEFINITELY check Google maps!
@gardenstategal that’s WAY too small, and I’d like to get AWAY from rural areas (I’ve lived in one for 16 years). I know you meant well.
@parentologist TY for the UMASS suggestion! Just out of curiosity: don’t suppose ASL is language of strength for them? Would you call Amherst rural or suburban? I mentioned elsewhere that my uncle briefly was a “suitcase student” there.
Anyone have thoughts about the schools listed in post 43? (I’ll update ranks once I plow through the data sets)
The issue is that “meeting people” is different from “walking in a crowd of 10,000”.
Freshmen on large to very large campuses report feelings of alienation they have to overcome, because there are so many students in their classes that they can’t easily talk with them, so many people they cross paths with but never see again, etc. It takes a lot more initiative to make friends and get to know people when you’re one among 20,000 or 30,000. Joining a Living Leaning community is one possibility, being in the Honors College is another one. Note how both speak of “making a large university feel small” as a selling point.
Another point: being in a city is good, but you don’t want to cross out college towns. Being near company headquarters, seeing beautiful skyscrapers, good public transportation, exciting professional sports teams and Shakespeare in the park, are all good things – but they’re not the alpha/omega of a college experience. Some aspects of city life (private kindergartens, excellent tai chi for 65+…) aren’t going to matter much to you, spending 1hour in the subway may not be your preferred use of time, and having to spend $400 for a night out may not be a good use of your money. Not saying THIS is what you’d do or need to do, but pointing out a city isn’t necessary for a good time as a college student: college towns have buses, tons of stores, college sports, free movie nights/$10 theater, tons of activities and clubs, etc. most of which are directed to young people (and, to a certain extent, to graduate students and faculty).
Since you come from a rural area, I can understand not attending a rural college 
but do keep “college towns” on your radar in addition to “cities”.
Finally, think about what “city” means: it may mean “exciting metropolis”, but it may mean “deindustrialised urban center”, and it’s more often the latter than the former. Some cities may not have good public transportation (especially if they were developed after the 1940s, when cars started to reign supreme 
) and/or may not be very walkable. As a result… do your research.
BTW I’ll reiterate looking into and running the NPC for Willamette, UPuget Sound, and other “colleges that change lives”.
Note that Clark is in a city (but urban in the “gritty” sense) and part of a college consortium so there are tens of thousands students there.
Looking at your list in #43, I’d say neither Central OK nor OK State seem to be in the type of location you want. UOk is in a college town and not as isolated.
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My daughter did get merit from UMASS, 3.9 UWGPA, but not honors.
https://www.fivecolleges.edu/fclang/mentored/asl
So yes, you can do plenty of ASL there. And they have good Arabic and Mandarin.
It has the feel of a Midwestern land-grant college, but it is adjacent to Amherst, which is a cute little New England town, and there is a 5-college consortium bus, with which you can easily get to Northampton, a slightly larger town, with more shops and restaurants. Smith college is there.
But the real question is, how much is in the 529 currently, and how much can your parents afford to pay towards tuition each year out of their earnings, while you’re in college? Also, do you want graduate school?
If there is plenty, then you really do have the luxury of choosing to go wherever you want. If you don’t use up a 529, believe it or not, it can be left to grow and then used for your children’s education someday.