I did very well on the ACT (the test they used in DC). I was accepted
to 3 colleges (GW AU, U Md), I just chose not to go. Money was a big
part of it.
GW and AU are expensive, but I'll bet you could have gotten most of your
ticket paid for at Maryland through scholarships and low interest
student loans.
My wife always griped at the $850 or whatever it was student activity
fee per semester where she got her doctorate, because, as she said, "I
don't have any time to go to any student activities." That $850 was more
than I paid per semester for full-time academic load tuition and books
back in the dark ages when I went to college.