Budget is super important. Even more important, particularly at this state of things, is do NOT fall in love with a school. Investigate options, see what’s out there, see what kind of things you like or don’t like. Seniors in high school think they know what they want in the fall and then 6 months later realize they want something else. This is just a time to explore.
If you are interested in politics or public policy, it can be very helpful to be in a capital, whether state or national. Being able to get experience throughout the school year rather than just summers can be very beneficial. Then again, in two years you might not want to do anything related to poli sci.
You already have Georgetown, American, and perhaps U. of South Carolina, if that’s the USC you’re referring to. So, to give you a taste of some other possibilities in this vein (where you can also get a good education in English) here are some schools with their distance from their state capitol building, or from the U.S. one if so denoted. There are small, medium, and large colleges, publics and privates, religiously affiliated and non-affiliated, big athletic spirit schools, schools with enthusiastic performing arts programs, etc. All of these schools also offer merit aid, so you can also see what kind of merit aid is available and if it would work for your family’s situation.
- U. of Hartford (CT): 4 miles
- SUNY Albany : 4.6 miles
- Siena (NY): 5.5 miles
- Otterbein (OH): 15 miles
- Virginia Commonwealth: 2 miles
- George Mason (VA): 19.3 miles to U.S. Capitol
- Providence (RI): 1.9 miles
- Butler (IN): 5.1 miles
- Dickinson (PA ): 19.4 miles
- Union (NY): 18 miles
- College of New Jersey: 3.6 miles
- Ohio State: 3.5 miles
- U. of Wisconsin: 1.6 miles
- Trinity College (CT): 1.7 miles
- George Washington (D.C.): 2.2 miles to U.S. Capitol
- Emory (GA): 6 miles