publics with merit that I’m familiar with listed below (most have Honors Colleges too). As for location and vibe you’ll have to assess for yourself. But don’t focus only on coasts-- coast schools are hard to get in to and less likely to give merit to OOS students. If you like west coast why not apply in CA? Not much merit but in-state tuition isn’t bad.
Oregon State
Univ. Oregon
Univ. Washington (great campus, no EA)
Univ. Colorado (Boulder is fantastic)
Univ. Wisconsin (lakefront campus, cool town, OOS merit difficult)
Univ. Minnesota
Indiana University (beautiful campus)
Univ. Iowa
Georgia Tech (urban campus, merit is hard, not sure about EA)
Univ. Georgia (traditional campus, lovely, not sure about EA)
Penn State
Arizona State
Univ. Arizona
Univ. Massachusetts (classic campus, nice town)
Univ. Utah (mountains and skiing, not sure about EA)
there’s others I imagine…