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<p>See, I completely understand that mindset. It only makes sense that someone would think something like that, because that’s how we tend to train people. We tell them that if they work hard, they will get good things based on how hard they worked and how well they did. So, logically, anyone who gets straight As should go to the Ivy Leagues and anyone who gets straight Fs should go to a community college, and so on so forth. That’s a perfectly logical inference to draw for a high school student.</p>
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<p>Bearing that in mind, a CollegeBoard search might be helpful if the OP hasn’t done that yet. If the OP knows his maximum on how much he can spend per year (including parental contributions, any scholarships/grants, and loans), he can find a list of every college on CollegeBoard, selected against the state of Texas and by price.</p>
<p>For example, I ran a quick search just now for 4-year colleges that have Out of State tuition of less than $20,000 per year that are not in Texas and I got 1005 results. They’re probably not all good options depending on what the OP wants to do in college, but I doubt they’re all cesspools.</p>