I agree W&M is a good add even if it doesn’t offer engineering. Top tier school at in-state prices is hard to pass up. Kick the decision until April.
Run the NPC’s for your schools. Maybe add Case, Rice, Lehigh or Northwestern to your list. Especially for IE. WVU would work but would you pick it or similar over JMU or George Mason?
Son started business at Georgia Tech and switched to IE after a semester. I don’t know if I’d call them adjacent. On paper maybe but not in reality.
The IE students essentially had the same track as the other engineers, at least for the first 2 years. Lots of math (of course) similar to other engineers except an upper level differential class or similar. Maybe not as rigorous as ME, EE or Aero but still more than business.
The good news is that UVA meets full financial need (as they calculate it), so UVA would need to eat that extra $10k if it’s above what the school calculates the family can pay. And since @rinzler1 is a first gen student who qualifies for the maximum Pell grant, I suspect that the school will come back as financially feasible.
I suspect the OP will be a strong candidate for all the Virginia schools. UVA is always tough so no guarantee, but I’d say it’s a hard target. Virginia Tech engineering is a match to likely, although they are sometimes a little weird with yield protection. VT is not generous with aid, but you should still be under $35k (we’re paying about $33k per year as a full pay family).
The advice to broaden your search to other schools out of state is good, if you intend to engineering. As mentioned, there are a lot of good engineering schools with decent merit and financial aid packages (Alabama and UA-Huntsville, ASU, etc).
I’m going to ask again if you’ve actually run net price calculators for meet full needs schools. You state in your OP that you’re maximum pell grant eligible and that would indicate a SAI well below the budget you’re discussing. I see a huge disconnect which would dramatically change the schools that would make the most sense for you.
My budget comes from what my parents are willing to contribute, they have already sent multiple other siblings to college so I’m assuming they understand my financial restraints better than I do. My SAI score does seem to be significantly lower compared to other peers that are at/below my income level.
I second - or is it 3rd? - the recommendation to run the NPC. For example, my GS is at University of Massachusetts, Amherst out-of-state. His stats were not quite as good as yours, but they and his family was full pay, but they gave him enough in scholarship money to bring the cost into the range you’re looking for. UConn, SUNY Binghamton, and SUNY Buffalo are others in the Northeast that are currently treating out of state applications very favorably.