The questions that people have posed about what your son wants out of his college experience is really important to figure out, in addition to the budget. Has your family visited any colleges yet? What have been his impressions/preferences?
It sounds as though your son will have very high test scores and a strong GPA, along with solid ECs. Unless you qualify for financial aid (which you believe is unlikely), then this is what I would do:
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Get very familiar with all of your in-state public school options. These are likely to be within budget. Look at their honors colleges, research opportunities, special living communities, extracurricular options, etc. Your kid needs to be happy to attend at least one of these.
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Your son should look for the road less-traveled if he’s seeking to find a school that will meet his budget. That means areas of the country that are less popular (midwest, western states that are not along the Pacific) or types of areas that are less popular (i.e. small towns and/or rural) or a cool, popular urban location but at a school that not everyone has heard of before. (Then again, many Americans probably couldn’t name more than about 15 “top” schools according to USNWR, so that will be true even if your son attended a “top” program that hasn’t been there for about 100 years.)
Some of the state flagships that are likely to get within budget have already been mentioned, like KU, U. of Nebraska, Ole Miss, etc. If your son associates sports enthusiasm with big schools, then he might want to consider schools like Creighton, Marquette, U. of Dayton, or Xavier. Or look at schools like U. of Cincinnati or U. of Louisville for bigger schools with sports enthusiasm. If he prefers the idea of a smaller college that offers business then consider some like John Carroll, U. of Redlands, Siena, Stetson, Rollins, Samford, Stonehill, Saint Edward’s or Augustana. I could list more.
With a $25-30k budget, there are numerous possibilities. Wish the exception of U. of Washington, it appears as though he prefers the eastern half of the U.S. (unless this list designed by you and these are your preferences). But some questions to help dive into what those preferences might be are listed below:
- Has he experienced large, mid-size, and small colleges to know his preferences?
- What about urban, suburban, small town, or rural?
- Climate?
- States he would prefer (or prefer to avoid)?
- How does he feel about Greek life?
- A high degree of intercollegiate sports enthusiasm?
- Does he prefer the anonymity of larger classes or does he prefer small, discussion-based classes?
- What kind of vibe would he like to find on campus, or what kind of vibe does he think he will find his kind of people in?
Are there any particular interests that he would like to pursue?