How serious are you about biomedical engineering as an option? If it’s something you think is a legitimate possibility as a major for you, then I would look at which schools have that as a major. There are 175 schools in the U.S. that are ABET-accredited for bioengineering & biomedical engineering (1 field) and biological engineering (different field…don’t know how it differs from biomedical engineering).
U. of Alabama - Birmingham …don’t think of this as U. of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. This is classified as a residential school (as compared to a commuter campus) that has about 15k undergrads, so much smaller than LSU, Arkansas, etc. It is well-known for its medical/health fields and research, and is likely to give you very generous merit aid. This would probably be a safety, but double-check on the merit aid charts.
Kansas State: In various surveys, this school usually ranks as having one of the happiest student bodies in the country. There are about 15k undergrads here, and you would qualify for the Wildcat Non-Resident Award, which would waive the out-of-state fees, bringing this school within budget.
Marquette (WI): This school of about 7600 undergrads has a scholarship estimator which should give you a pretty good idea as to the minimum you could expect. Depending on the results, I might put this as a target or a safety. There’s lots of school spirit (especially around basketball) and it’s in a big city, too.
I’d also take a look at:
- Miami (OH): Can offer very generous merit aid, but usually only has a range on its website; about 20k undergrads
- North Carolina A&T: An HBCU of about 12k undergrads
- Saint Louis U (MO): About 9k undergrads
- U. of the Pacific (CA): About 3300 undergrads
- U. of Hartford (CT): About 4k undergrads
- U. of Louisville (KY): About 15k undergrads
- U. of Kentucky: About 20k undergrads
- U. of Maine: About 10k undergrads
- West Virginia U: About 20k undergrads, safety based on this merit chart
- College of New Jersey: About 7k undergrads