If you were to edit this thread topic, I would suggest focusing on strong physics with decent musical theater.
Until you noted that Physics was important in a comment, I read your post as looking in the reverse order. Others may have as well.
Does she want to live off campus freshman year? Maybe she can declare herself as a commuter to the school if there is an in dorm requirement freshman year.
Agreed - I don’t get the UCs being on here at all. UR - I just looked at the board - the most I saw was $9K in merit. I’m sure they give more though.
In your case, don’t forget your student was TO and at some schools (I can’t speak for Rochester) but at some, TO students earn less
But agreed - it doesn’t seem to fit the bill at $86K when OP wants to be at $60K or less. It’s also not going to be “city” living.
I know top girl with top scores who got 21k last year at Rochester. That was obviously not enough to attend.
My DD was not TO at all schools but she was TO for Rochester.
Are you truly looking for strong physics - because some top ones are laid out but you are then looking for those - not that they’re bad - but not known for STEM or sciences and it almost seems like the preference is to be in NYC - and that’s fine - but then the list should be fine tuned to that…
I know you started another thread for that. Here’s a few lists.
2023 Best Physics Programs in America (■■■■■■■■■■■■■■)
2024 Best Physics Schools (collegefactual.com)
United States’ 100+ best Physics schools [2023 Rankings] (edurank.org)
That’s more than I saw on the Rochester thread - at least that I saw. Yes, it doesn’t seem a fit but OP would have to decide. Plus, it’s not in the city and has a two year commitment.
OP wants to be in a city and have one year of housing.
But - I think OP needs to do a deeper dive based on budget and what’s truly important.
On the website Rochester claims 2k up to full ride. That is why I said it promises a lot and delivers little given stats you and me collected. There are very few scholarships available at the schools OP mentioned. Since they focus only on top schools (even top 50), the probability to get them would be very slim.
University of Washington (Seattle) has Purple/Gold scholarship for OOS with 3k-8K range. COA OOS is 64K. So this one can be almost affordable (if live off campus and save money on everything), but if the cost go up it will not be (the scholarship amount is always fixed for all 4 years unless it is connected to tuition like half-tuition or full tuition).
Northeastern same story. COA 86K. The maximum award possible is 28K. Then the cost goes up, and you need more than 60K. Plus you again banking on max award possible. That is simply not realistic…
Solid physics programs abound nationwide. Arizona stands out for its excellence, accessibility, and affordability. UMN is another strong option, and numerous others like Ohio State, CU, UMASS, Delaware, Iowa State, and Purdue offer quality education under $60k.
Beyond these, you’ll find a range of institutions, from Liberal Arts Colleges to mid-sized universities and more. Are you leaning towards Astrophysics, regular Physics, Engineering, or are you still exploring your interests?
OP stated -regular or nuclear.
Agree with your list. Well I’m a budget and value guy - so I’d be at U of A 
But given nuclear, I also mentioned Stony Brook and UTK (Oak Ridge labs) earlier.
You have an impressive student (congrats!) but unfortunately I feel you are overestimating merit awards at many of these schools (there are a few that I am not familiar with). If you are looking for merit my advice is to consider adding some other schools where merit is likely. A few have been mentioned. Some of the schools on this list are reaches for acceptance even though they do not appear that way on paper.
My daughter applied to 4 schools on this list. She applied awhile ago but merit has not gotten any easier since then. If Lehigh remains on the list she should demonstrate A LOT of interest.
She may get some merit at UConn. Apply and see! I would not count on significant merit to Rochester, but of course it doesn’t hurt to try. My daughter received a merit award through her HS (Bausch and Lomb) but when my daughter called to find out the amount, they said “it depends.” She decided not to apply.
UNC OOS is a reach and I would not count on merit (merit is a reach as well). There is a 19% cap on OOS students, and they get a lot of applications - the year my daughter applied they received 10,000 apps from instate and over triple that amount OOS. I am not saying merit won’t happen, but I will say that it is a reach even for acceptance. Does your school have Naviance? Have students from your HS been accepted? My D went to UNC (also OOS) and I would be happy to answer any questions. FYI - UNC is not in a city.
I think there have been some good merit suggestions mentioned above. I would add them. Good luck and congrats to your daughter!
I was wondering how Northwestern wasn’t on the list, then I saw your point about not being willing to pay retail price. In that case, I agree with other posters and take the UC’s off the list too.
I’d recommend University of Central Florida. It ticks all the boxes.
At colleges that require freshmen to live on campus, this commuter possibility is only one if the family lives closeby.
I think this student is going to need to make some compromises on their list. Musical Theater is a time consuming field of study. Maybe it’s me, but I think it will be difficult to balance dance, voice and acting studies, and possibly being in productions with a hard sciences major.
I would suggest she look for colleges where students are welcome to be in productions…because the college welcomes all students to be in productions.
Many musical theater majors (even BA ones) expect that students will do behind the scenes work as well (think sets, costumes, lights, sounds, etc) and sometimes this expectation is that this is done before they get any on stage experience.
In addition to looking at the musical theater programs for undergrads, look to see if grad students and undergrads are doing auditions for the same shows. This is an added thing to consider.
Being in a production entails attending rehearsals a certain number of times a week (often evenings). Couple that with the lab requirements for a hard science like physics (I would think she would want to and expect to do research) and when will this student eat and sleep?
I say this from experience. It’s not easy to both be in shows and major in the sciences.
Some colleges (and you already have them on your list) are more amenable to encouraging the arts for everyone regardless of major than others. Please make that a priority.
There are lots of ways to keep musical theater in your daughter’s life.
Agreed. It seems very likely the student will end up giving one of those up. Seems like MT is more important to her, so I guess I would prioritize that and have a backup plan for a major. Some majors are better than others for those who wish to pursue other strong interests, whether academic or extracurricular. Physics tends to attract and retain those who are willing and able to devote themselves to it fully.
One more thought, although the scholarships are very limited, probably worth looking into Vanderbilt and Emory. They have excellent scholars programs that would lead to very low COA if accepted. The application for Emory is easy, Vanderbilt a little harder. Davidson’s scholarships are also very limited and one requires school nomination. I think that Duke also has similar programs that your D may be within the running for. We have spent a lot of time with S24 looking at schools with music scholarships, there are schools that have specific theater ones (GW has a specific audition based scholarship for performance students)
While it’s fine to include these schools, I would consider them to be reaches. This student needs likely schools for merit.
agreed, but they are worth a try, esp if she is a talented MT student, there are many reach schools that want these students just like musicians and athletes and will offer specific scholarships for them.
For a career in physics, you have to be a physics major. For a career in theater, you don’t have to go to college at all. So if your student is planning a career in physics, the physics major should be the #1 priority. Find a school she would be happy to attend for physics, and then add a theater minor, or do club theater, or do summer stock theater.
I agree with you that it is worth a try, but I also suggest adding schools where merit is “easier” to get. Vanderbilt, Duke etc are reach schools for everybody.