Below are some schools that you may want to consider. Several of them are also in or near their state capitals, which can be very beneficial for someone interested in political science.
-
Brown (RI): About 7600 undergrads and in the state capital of Rhode Island
-
Emory (GA): About 7100 undergrads and in the state capital of Georgia and offers full rides (source).
-
Miami U. (OH): Full rides are available at this public ivy with about 21k undergrads (source). Not a big metropolis, but it is a college town.
-
Michigan State: About 39k undergrads by the state capital and has full rides available (source).
-
U. of Miami (FL): About 13k undergrads and has full rides and full tuition scholarships available (source).
-
U. of South Carolina: About 27k undergrads and one of the top honors colleges in the country, and also located in the state capital. Its premier scholarships would essentially provide a full ride (source).
-
Villanova (PA ): About 7k undergrads in a suburb of Philadelphia and has full ride scholarships available (source).
-
Wake Forest (NC): About 5400 undergrads and has several full ride scholarships available (source).
With respect to my earlier suggestions, I mentioned Northwestern earlier, which I still stand behind as a suggestion. I had also suggested Notre Dame, but unless the NPC comes back as affordable, then it probably will not work as its max merit is full tuition & fees. Ohio State (Stamps Eminence and a location in the state capital) and Indiana U. (Wells Scholars) offer full rides.
I considered Syracuse, but it doesn’t offer scholarships beyond full tuition, so unless its NPC comes back as affordable, I would not bother with it. Although I liked the suggestion of Lehigh above, its top scholarships cover full tuition only, and I’m doubtful the NPC will come back as affordable. The Gabelli at Boston College only covers tuition, so same story here about the NPC.
Some of the other schools I looked into but that I think would be impossible to meet budget are: Grand Valley, Marquette, Loyola Chicago, Ohio U., U. of Dayton, U. at Albany, and U. of Delaware.