I commend you for aiming high and wanting to pursue your dreams.
But unfortunately, what you/your family can afford is going to be a major factor. Yes, there are some out of state colleges that are need blind and meet full need but these are extremely competitive colleges and cannot be relied upon for acceptance.
Pay attention to:
So you might wonder why so many of us here are asking about your budget but trust us, it’s important to know this when building your college list.
Since you are from Georgia, have you looked into whether or not you qualify for the Hope and/or Zell Miller Scholarships? Based on your course rigor and GPA it sounds like you might. If so, the begin with in-state schools. Check out their programs. See if anything sparks your interest. Unfortunately, at the end of the day it will matter if you can afford the school. It’s kind of like house hunting. There is no point touring houses out of your price range. It’s a waste of your valuable time, and diverts your attention from realistic options that you could be better preparing for. We had to give our son a list that was financially acceptable at the beginning of the process. We didn’t want him putting time and effort into options we couldn’t afford.
Free Colleges:
Berea
College of the Ozarks
Deep Springs College
Great Financial Aid:
Grinnell
Pomona
Princeton
Rice
Vanderbilt
Vassar
Washington U/St. Louis
Williams
Yale
That’s a great analogy 
Figure out how much your parents can really afford. This means that you’ll have to ask them what your family’s Adjusted Gross Income is (they’ll know what that is, you need it for annual tax filings with the IRS each year).
Going to college as an undecided major is totally fine!
Every college has a Net Price Calculator. Use it to figure out what your family’s EFC (expected family contribution) would be at that college.
Compare #3 to #1 and then consider your options.
Berea and College of the Ozarks are Work Colleges, and as such provide each student free tuition. Room and board is not included, so definitely not free. Families will be expected, at a minimum, to pay their EFC, as calculated by the college.
OP’s chances of admission at Berea are greater if they live in the Appalachian region of Georgia.
College of the Ozarks is Christian and primarily reserves spots for residents of the Ozarks, which does not include Georgia.
Here are the rest of the Work Colleges, if OP is interested in them and meets their requirements: https://www.workcolleges.org/
Deep Springs is indeed free, and is a two year college with about 15 students per class. It is among the most extreme of ‘fit’ schools. https://www.deepsprings.edu/
OP, complete this EFC estimator with your parents and talk to them about your budget: Net Price Calculator (you do not have to create a collegeboard account to use this tool)
I understand the desire to leave home and have new experiences. Financing a college education, however, is very expensive. Take a close look at the Hope and Zell Miller programs as I think you’d likely be eligible. Getting your tuition paid for and only needing to cover room & board is a big savings, and many would feel it is worth postponing your goal of moving to the northeast and having cold weather. Therefore, I would HIGHLY recommend taking a look at your in-state publics, as they are likely to be your least expensive options by far, and Georgia has some excellent in-state publics, so it’s not as though you will have to be lowering your academic standards. Also, note that big cities usually have bigger costs of living (i.e. more expensive dorms and food).
I’d start with looking at these, all of which are in urban or suburban locations. The schools are large or very large unless the student population is noted.
• University of Georgia
• Georgia College & State University (about 5500 students)
• University of North Georgia (which is getting into the foothills of the Appalachian mountains and should be less hot and humid than the rest of Georgia).
But I want to go to college in the northeast, you say. Until you have AP scores and an SAT/ACT score to see if you’d be competitive enough to have a chance at the most elite colleges that will meet your family’s full need, I think it’s best not to focus on those. Instead, I would look at public colleges that are not their state’s flagship. Those schools are less competitive and might be more interested in getting someone from a state that’s further away. They may be willing to offer an out-of-state tuition waiver, and possibly additional aid as well. They might also have tables on their financial aid pages that will say with X test score and Y GPA you would receive Z in funding to let you know what you might be looking at (and yes, run NFCs on each school’s page).
I don’t know if any of the ones on this list do, but if you are trying the latter strategy, I would probably start my research at these schools, all of which have at least a 60% graduation rate and extracurricular theater programs and a theater major and are located in urban or suburban areas:
• SUNY College at New Paltz (NY, 6500 students)
• West Chester University of Pennsylvania
• Stony Brook University (NY)
• SUNY University at Buffalo (NY)
• Ramapo College of New Jersey (5200 students)
• Towson University (MD)
• University of Maryland – Baltimore County
• Rutgers – Newark (NJ, 8900 students)
• SUNY College at Plattsburgh (NY, 4600 students)
• Montclair State University (NJ)
• SUNY College at Oswego (NY, 6900 students)
• Rutgers – Camden (NJ, 5400 students)
• SUNY Brockport (NY, 6200 students)
• Bridgewater State University (MA, 8800 students)
• SUNY College at Purchase (NY. 3500 students)
• Westfield State University (MA, 4400 students)
ETA: University of Alabama & University of Arizona have very generous merit aid for certain GPAs with SAT/ACT scores. They’re either in the south or west where you say you don’t want to be, but they can be very affordable options for those on a tight budget.
The SUNY universities are ~$30k/year for out of state students. They don’t offer a lot of merit aid for state residents. It’s unlikely they’ll be affordable for an OOS student, but OP can check the SUNY website for links to each school to see what kind of aid (if any) each campus offers. I don’t believe aid is stackable, so students who are eligible for 2 different grants will only get one.
Thank you. I remember reading in one or two threads about people who were pleasantly surprised by the aid they received as OOS students from a SUNY school, which is why I put them on there. And I honestly have no idea whether they do tuition waivers, but if they do, SUNYs are among the better deals in the northeast for in-state tuition.
A generic EFC calculator, or one that calculates the FAFSA EFC, may not necessarily be reflective of any individual college’s financial aid calculation. Use the net price calculator on each college’s web site to get a better estimate.
The North Carolina Promise program has set set aside 3 public colleges at which tuition is limited to $2500 per semester for out of state students - UNC Pembroke, Western Carolina University State, and Elizabeth City State. I think that all are in the mountains and should therefore have a milder climate.
SUNY Bing was generous, brought tuition below in state Rutgers for my daughter (but she chose another school).
Do you know your FAFSA EFC? If it’s $0 you may be eligible for a ~$6k/year Pell grant. Pell Grants can be used in any state.
FAFSA EFC (soon to be renamed SAI - student aid index) and Pell grants can be estimated using Federal Student Aid .
Remember, any given college may calculate an EFC that is not necessarily the same as the FAFSA EFC.
Unfortunately the federal student aid EFC estimator is less detailed and less accurate than other resources including collegeboard’s EFC estimator, here: Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator – BigFuture | College Board
For example, the federal student aid estimator doesn’t add back to income 401k contributions,or necessarily include all child support payments, which must be added into FAFSA income. Of course, students should also complete each school’s NPC.
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