The advantages of school year policy experience are one of the reasons why I’m a fan of state capitals for people with public policy interests. Nebraska, however, would hit all of the wishlist items, apart from being east of the MS River, and be within budget and an extremely likely admit.
In case my previous post was a bit overwelming, I’ve sorted the schools I mentioned earlier into my guesses as to what your son’s chances might be to be admitted AND get the price where it needs to be. Note that I am NOT an admissions professional.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
- U. of Arkansas
- U. of Louisville
- U. of Nebraska - Lincoln
- West Virginia
Likely (60-79%)
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
- Louisiana State (the scholarship estimator indicated $15k, which would bring costs to about $36k…there’s possibilities for additional scholarships, but that moves this into the lower probability range)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
- Florida State (unless the abroad program mentioned by @fiftyfifty1 is selected)
- U. of South Carolina
Don’t Know I just don’t know about the merit aid likelihood to be sufficient for OP and whether OP will get any need-based aid. I think these would all be extremely likely for admission.
- Georgia State
- Marquette
- Seton Hall
- Xavier