You don t say what you are interested in because that really determines that top colleges in MD / DC. Here are some overall good ones and for the ones I know, their strengths. DC: American UniversityGeorgetown (Law)George Washington UniversityMD:University of MD - College Park (Business, Engineering, Computer Science)Loyola College (Business, Speech Pathology)University of MD - Baltimore (Medical) - this is the downtown Baltimore campus, not the Baltimore County campusJohn Hopkins University (Science, Medical)Stevenson University (Education)If you want a nice campus and diversity, UM - College Park fits this. John Hopkins isn t in the best part of Baltimore so the campus isn t great but it is diverse. Loyola and Stevenson has a nice campuses but not exactly diverse (probably 90+% white). I am not as familiar with the DC colleges. Now you just said that they needed to be in MD. There are some colleges in MD and are probably a little bit of distance from home. You mention your parents want you close but do you want to be? If you want to be farther away, you can look into Frostburg St. which is out in Western MD or McDaniel College in Westminster MD.
You asked in the wrong section.You parents may want you to get some distance from them by the time you turn 18 and go off to college. I was more than ready for my 18 yo daughters to move away - trust me.There are lots of great schools in that part of the country.University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, James Madison, Georgetown, Loyola, George Mason, Univ of MD, William and Mary, in North Carolina - Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Elon - look at www.princetonreview.com.
In DC: George Washington University, Georgetown University, American University, Howard University. The University of DC has good diversity, but a mediocre reputation.In Maryland: University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland Baltimore CampusIn Virginia: George Mason University
Redcorn no know, but there a good tribal college here on the reservation!
so you ask in travel and not higher education?