How about U of Pittsburgh? Great school, gives merit (apply soon!), and is in a big city on the east coast.
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The other tricky part is my husband passed in 2023. I received a package from his work that will be very deceptive on my tax returns
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This is definitely a case for @kelsmom.
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I do know that there are exceptions made when there is a one-time increase in income, though it may then be a permanent increase to the familyâs assets. Hopefully kelsmom will be able to provide more insight. I would suggest running the Princeton NPC with your regular income (absent this yearâs package from your spouseâs employer) but while adding that package to the assets side of the calculator and see what results.
You are fortunate that Oklahoma has some of the most affordable in-state pricing in comparison with most of the rest of the U.S. For in-state tuition and fees plus room & board (per College Navigator, the federal governmentâs website), U. of Oklahoma costs around $23k/year.
Many of the large cities on the East Coast also have a relatively high cost-of-living. Some of them have room and board fees approaching $20k/year. Thus, your child may need to compromise with respect to location. The midwest is significantly less expensive (both in terms of tuition and room & board prices) as are areas outside of big cities.
I understand that you do not yet know the budget, and that is really the first step in the college search process. But if we even have any kind of rough idea, it can help start brainstorming possible schools.
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Do you think that in-state pricing of $23k/year would be affordable without loans? And that whatever the amount is that increases over time with inflation would be affordable without loans for the rest of your kids? If yes, we can start with that amount as the budget. If not, then that is also useful to know in brainstorming.
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If you think there is an amount that is higher than your in-state flagship, would you guesstimate it might be more like $30k? $35k? $40k? $50k? Thereâs a big difference between $23k and $90k+ at some of the schools on your childâs list, so having any kind of starting point would be helpful.
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You are getting good advice on budgeting, so I am just going to throw out a few suggestions to check out which fit the parameters of bigger and somewhat urban, good for Poli Sci, and not punitively expensive OOS and/or have merit.
Another poster already mentioned Pitt. Iâd definitely second that recommendation (assuming it might be affordable with merit, which it does offer sometimes).
Michigan State actually has a strong Poli Sci department and OOS merit. Maybe not Eastern enough but since you were looking at Wisconsin I thought it was worth mentioning. And similarly, Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio State are strong (it is a core Big 10 thing) and have OOS merit.
Finally, another very interesting Ohio public with merit is Miami (OH). Poli Sci is one of the popular majors there, always a good sign to see kids voting with their feet. Smaller town but I thought worth mentioning as otherwise a strong possible fit.
Urban East Coast privates are kinda hard for me to recommend if you are not going to get any aid and are not feeling like you can comfortably full pay. But you might want to check out colleges like Rochester and Syracuse that at least do have merit programs, and I would definitely look at George Washington and American if it is at all possible they could be affordable.
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Student would get additional merit at OU or Ok St, so the COA would drop below $20k. Tulsa also provides great merit aid. Unless you are very wealthy, going to the east coast is costly for everything: tuition, housing, transportation, entertainment, etc.
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College of Charleston is in a coastal city, and has some great programs and scholarship opportunities within its Honors College. They have a DC Semester Program and strong pre-law advising. Greek life exists but only about 20% are involved. Could be worth a look.
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What about a scholarship? Graduating from an honors program at OU, for instance, is a tangible accomplishment she can put on a law school application. Itâs worth its weight in gold.
I agree that the in-state options should definitely be given serious consideration and that honors colleges can definitely help provide the experience that many strong students are hoping for when aiming for Top X schools.
@Coolguy40, youâre not accepting messages at this time, but you may want to edit your post as OP has referred to her child as a âshe.â
ThanksâŠedited 
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I know itâs not east coast and has a substantial Greek presenceâŠâŠ but budget wise take a look at the Croft Institute at Ole Miss. your D can specialize in a region and associated foreign language. And she would get good merit with those grades/ scores.
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Iâm sorry for your loss. If you received one-time income, itâs possible that schools may treat that differently for you. However, there is no way to easily know whether they will & if so, how it will affect aid. The best advice I can give is to have a financial safety, apply to schools with automatic merit and schools where she has a strong chance of getting merit ⊠and then have her hone in on her favorite schools that meet need & contact each one to discuss your situation. Best wishes.
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U Wi Madison will be over 60k/yr. I would not force my kid into 240k of debt for a college degree. They are incredibly stingy with merit money. They would likely get in as Madison loves to take oos kids who will pay full price.
Although not east coast, U of Minn Twin Cities may work.
StonyBrook has japanese and korean but not mandarin. Temple U has a chinese certificate.
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I am so sorry for your and your childrenâs loss.
If you run the NPC on the private universities on the list so far, without the one-time payment but your income only, what do you see?
Wrt Barnard, itâs fully integrated with Columbia except for the dorms (which are single sex rather than coed). The key academic difference is the core at Columbia vs. Distribution requirements at Barnard. So, even if she isnât interested in womenâs colleges, it could still interest her.
Have you gone on East Coast College tours?
Seconding Pitt, Michigan State, GWU and American.
She should always apply to the Honors College e, especially at public universities. This could unlock special opportunities and special scholarships.
At American, she should definitely show a LOT of interest. That means creating a college inquiry-only email and joining their mailing list then checking their emails at least once a week and clicking on links of interest (this will be tracked by each college). The info she reads can be added to pages where she jots down notes about whatever struck her and in turn she can use the relevant info for the âwhy usâ essay.
U Minnesota would be less expensive than UWisconsin and very Urban. In addition, it offers one if the much sought-after Critical Language Flagships in Chinese.
If she likes Madison, not a big city but more of a combo political capital/college town, it opens up more locations to suggest :).
What about William&Mary, would it be within budget for you (likely no merit, expect full price)?
What about GMU? Georgia State?
Wrt Michigan State, check this out:
https://jmc.msu.edu/
If you run the NPC on Northeastern (Boston), Boston University, or Boston College; UPenn (Philly); is one affordable?
Theyâre all quite different but all offer strong Poli sci.
If sheâs willing to entertain the idea of a smaller college, Dickinson is excellent for Poli sci and Mandarin, Vassar, Middlebury as well (reach for everyone and rural so academically what she wants but not location-wise).
SUNY Binghamton (nowhere near a big city but one of NYSâ flagships) will give her a lot of credit for the full IBD as will UMD-CP (1hr to DC).
She can also check out the Critical Language flagships, which lead to the highest possible level in Chinese alongside a major. Their graduates are highly sought after. Beside UMN Twin cities, there are
https://www.thelanguageflagship.org/chinese
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I havenât read the replies but I would suggest Barnard vs. Columbia. Your kid isnât getting into Columbia EDâitâs an elite school and your kid doesnât have elite stats. Barnard maybe!
I know she has no chance at Columbia, and honestly so does she, but if she doesnât apply sheâll always wonder.
Have you had a chance to think about any kind of guesstimate as to what might be affordable for your D (and subsequent children)? There have been some good suggestions of colleges, but until we know if any of them might be in the right price range, some folks (like myself) might be hesitant to suggest more.
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Yes, I have been doing a lot of research with everyoneâs suggestions and have talked with my daughter at length. We will not qualify for any aid and since she wants to go to law school, I think her going in state is going to make the most sense. I think the schools sheâd be excited about would be such a huge financial burden. We will go ahead and apply to some and see if she she gets any merit but ultimately sheâll be happy at OU and that is probably where sheâll end up
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OU Honors is good, but if she wants East Coast (especially wrt Law school) she should target colleges where she will get merit scholarships.
Some universities simply donât offer merit scholarships. If you run the NPC and theyâre not affordable, no point in applying - however identifying these means we can find universities that are similar enough to be good fits but would also offer merit aid.
Itâs not a binary, OU or Ivy League. There are lots of possibilities for her where you wonât be full pay but which will also give her choices in the Spring.
There are LOTS of colleges on the East Coast where sheâd get merit aid and receive excellent preparation for Law School, either through reading/writing intensive classes, or through career center support&alumni network, etc.
She needs to identify her deal breakers (D1 spectator sports? Walkable college town or city, just a walkable urban area, 100+k pop, within 30mn of a metropolis �) - and if you can, identify your budget. Is it OU+10k? 50k all in? Etc.
Then we can help you more efficiently. 
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For what it is worth, I think that is the obvious place to land, and sometimes the obvious answer is so obvious because it is a very good answer. This pathâgo to a top in-state university, do very well, pick a suitable law school for your intended legal career, possibly in-state again and/or with meritâis well trod because it works to get people where they want, often without too much debt. Which means in fact they can take the first law jobs they want without having to worry if they will be able to pay their loans.
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