On the way to tour Temple, or on the way back, you could swing by Towson U just north of Baltimore. It is essentially urban, almost certainly a safety, probably well within your budget, and farther from home than UMD. Close enough to come home whenever she would absolutely need to (bus to MARC to DC), but far enough to mean that she would have to think through things before actually doing that.
If your daughter liked Penn State, might as well add the entire Big 10. U of Minnesota comes to mind as a a public uni in an urban environment. U of Washington is also an urban public school.
George Mason
Maryland college Park
Michigan state
Son goes to Penn state it’s in the middle of a valley and not fun to get too. Plus his nagging to go there was to me not worth it even for the engineering program he is in. Most of his friends went to Virginia Tech, UVA, or NOVA
Interesting. We actually added Minnesota on our list last night.
ok ok I might have misunderstood it but I thought there were different locations and that my daughter would end up on the main campus because of what she was studying
I’m not sure which school you are referring to in post #24 but generally speaking, the public satellite schools have their own application process. Some state flagships do offer admission to satellite campuses but that’s generally because of grades not being up to par for main campus, not because of intended major.
In Purdue’s case, main campus is in W. Layette, not Indy.
Does “not in the south” also rule out the southwest?
Arizona has both Barrett Honors at ASU in Tempe, and the U of Arizona in Tucson. U of A is one of the few public U’s to offer a political philosophy major that is modeled after Oxford’s PPE program and operates as a cohort program - sounds like this might be of interest for your daughter: https://moralscience.arizona.edu/ba-philosophy-politics-economics-and-law
U of Utah is another flagship that would satisfy your criteria; it has an urban setting in Salt Lake City (but also close to amazing outdoor recreation), and a really nice Honors College that would be worth a look. OOS costs are relatively affordable, and Utah also offers OOS students a path to residency for years 2-4 (which would take even more off the top than the DC subsidy but would require staying in Utah that first summer).
West Coast wise, UW-Seattle could be a great fit but on the pricier end - they do give modest merit scholarships (four figures, not five) that could bring tuition into your range, but only barely. The U of California system is a non-starter financially; there are some options in the Cal State system, but in that system, the categories of “urban” and “not a commuter school” don’t overlap much. San Diego State and its Honors College could be worth a look.
(P.S. agree that both Pitt and Temple seem to fit what your daughter is looking for better than Penn State, which is both rural and a party school. Pitt Honors has a PPE honors-only major, fwiw.)
I will take a look at Arizona but I think it might be too far away. Have previously looked at Utah and there was one thing that scared me away. It is a very religious student body, did it say 80% mormon? We are not religious and very liberal as most Washingtonian are and I didn’t think she would fit it. I will try to find out how religious the students are. For sure there is no drinking there which I would like a lot. Daughter is also an expert skier. UW, I looked at it today. It is a bit more than I’d like to pay. Looked at San Diego state. On one of the list we had it came out as the number one party school in the country. Thank you for your very detailed answer.
UofU is only about 35% LDS according to this article. https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2019/05/10/religion-on-campus-more-diverse-than-rest-of-state-with-proportion-of-latter-day-saints-over-15-lower/ As you say, it is (theoretically) a dry campus; but it’s not as conservative as many people assume. SLC is fairly progressive in terms of public policy, and the U itself made a list of top 25 LGBTQ-friendly schools a few years ago. https://www.deseret.com/2012/8/21/20505767/university-of-utah-named-as-top-25-lgbt-friendly-school It’s somewhat lacking in racial/ethnic diversity, although no more so than CU Boulder (which has roughly the same demographics in spite of its liberal reputation and the mandatory “diversity” essay on its application, lol). There is phenomenal skiing only half an hour from the UofU campus so that’s a real selling point if your D likes to ski. Also, SLC is the seat of government in Utah so that lends itself to political opportunities. And there are direct flights between the DC metro area and SLC.
SUNY Albany is another urban public university that is situated in its state capital, and I’ve heard good things about their honors college. There are combined degree programs with their masters programs in international affairs, poli sci, and public administration.
Agree that UMinn could be a good option also, but their OOS merit aid has been getting less generous so you’d have to see if it would work cost-wise. Likewise with Pitt. Merit at Temple is probably more of a slam-dunk.
Good luck!
My D has zero problems being a liberal atheist at Utah and loves it there (we are from CA). She has an amazing outdoor life with skiing every weekend in the winter and backpacking, climbing etc in the fall and spring. She went back this summer to work and enjoy the weekends in the mountains with her friends. “Theoretically” is a good description of the “dry campus” concept, though it is really not a party school (other than the usual events around football games) because everyone is out in the mountains at weekends.
To me, all the big state schools are urban. If you put 40,000 students and another 10k faculty and staff, grad students, etc. in one place, even if it is Happy Valley, the university becomes urban with enough Starbucks, shopping malls, restaurants, hotels, and entertainment to support those 50k people. There may not be Broadway theater, but there will be shows and speakers and sports and concerts in the area. It may not be the state capital for internships, but it may be a county seat with internship opportunities in city and state governments. There may not be professional sports, but there will be plenty of D1 sports at the school.
I went to school at CU and while Boulder county wasn’t that big, I did an internship in Denver (took the bus 1 hour), could use the Denver airport, could find plenty to do in Boulder or in Denver as far as sports and concerts and theater.
What ‘urban’ is she looking for? If it is just ‘people’ then she’ll find plenty of them just walking around campus. Most students spend most of their time (and money) on campus.
Minnesota OOS COA has been increasing and OOS merit decreasing. They pass out a lot of application fee waivers. I think it’s just to pad their stats. My S20 applied just because. Got into Carlson but no merit.
Most college campuses are liberal or at least indifferent, even if the surrounding area is considered conservative. Even among the Catholic schools there’s a range. The Jesuit schools are typically liberal. Most kids can find their niche just about anywhere. Besides, I though college was about challenging yourself and meeting ALL types of people?
Looking at your original post and the way Covid is impacting everything I would think a school within driving distance would be preferable. Temple and Pitt(alum) seem like targets.