Thank you for the insight!!! I’ll definitely look further into both of those schools, and that’s a great point about GMU being a good place to go if I’m looking to work for the government.
Those are great points, and yes, I’m not completely sure which direction I like best (I’m about equally interested in them all). I hadn’t really thought about debt in terms of lost opportunities, but now that you say that, I understand where you’re coming from… I don’t want to rule out the opportunity to start my own business or pursue a lower-paying job that’s more fulfilling because of that, so I’m leaning more towards GMU now.
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Thank you so much for your insight!!! I’ll look further into UNC! 
Actually, I was granted assured enrollment to Gillings!!! And my parents haven’t been saying anything about cost, but it’s definitely on their minds… they want me to go wherever I want, but I know it’s a concern. It’s great to hear that your daughter was able to find lots of research opportunities there, and that it’s a very globally-focused program. Those are both really important factors for me!!!
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Good luck. Whatever you do, make your choice and don’t look back. As someone pointed out, accumulating debt for undergraduate may not necessarily be bad if it gives you a leg up in a career that is lucrative from the start. But on the other hand, if you are looking at a career where starting pay isn’t the highest and it may be advantageous from a career progression standpoint to take lower paying positions that will provide valuable experience down the line, you should try to keep debt/cost down. If you are comfortable with GMU, it certainly has a cost advantage.
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George Mason. You’ll be a valued superstar there, you get a job in public health for a year or two to get some work experience, then you go to the best MPH program in the country (you’ll be able to afford it, what with having spent so little on your undergrad education), and after that, back to government or NGO in public health, and the sky’s the limit.
It seems to me that for public health undergrad degree, and the goal of working in public health, it makes sense to go with a low cost option, especially since you will likely want a masters degree in public health, too.
Do you know what people earn first year with a BA in public health? About 40-50K/yr. You will have to live like a student on that, in a bedroom in a shared apt in a not great area, far out from DC, and you will STILL be on a very, very tight budget. And that’s without student loans (and yes, maybe your family will help you, but that doesn’t mean that someone’s hard earned money didn’t go towards paying a lot for a degree that earns you only a little). It’s just not smart to pay a lot for a degree that pays not much. Plus, later on in your career, the degree that’s going to matter for you is going to be the MPH, not your undergrad.
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Thank you to everyone who responded for your input, as well as all the stories and personal anecdotes you shared!!! After taking all of it into consideration, I’ve decided to commit to the College of William & Mary. Again, I really appreciate all of your advice—it was incredibly helpful to me in making the decision, and I feel like it was definitely the right one!!!
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This is exactly where I am with DS24 right now. He really wants to study Urban Planning but it’s all over the place in terms of majors and how science focused it is. You have BS/BA, more focused on GIS/Practical, more policy based. You can find it as it’s own major, as a minor in a variety of departments (for example it’s in Political Science at BU, but in Geography at Dartmouth). Two years ago I was complaining how hard it was to figure out where to apply as a mechanical engineer and the different admissions statistics that were not always available. I’d take that issue over this one any day.
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And, as I understand it, the kids who start at Emory Oxford have a very high success rate at Emory overall.
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