Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Finding a University in DC area

I'd agree with you if this were a kid in high school headed for university in her own country. But she's not - she'll be moving to a country with a completely different system. She has little or no access to adults IRL who know anything about the US system, definitely none who has the least knowledge about transfer requirements from northern virginia community colleges to Virginia universities, nor has she access to print material, info sessions, older peers or siblings with information or experiences she could draw on. Radically accelerated gifted 15 year old starting college are rare enough, radically accelerated gifted 15 year olds with a high school degree from Australia making a move to the US must be pretty unique.
The OPs D is 13 now, turning 14, and the first decision to be taken next year at the age of 14, will be whether to finish high school in Australia or transfer into high school in the US (and that is a choice she has made for herself already). So many ramifications down the road, it's not a process for which I'd put a 13 yo in the driver's seat - for now. (How on earth would she be know to take into account that transferring from a community college makes a difference in whether she is eligible for financial aid, coming for a system that has, IIRC, a graduate tax?).

After a feasible path has been carved out, whether to do some more high school, do a residential early college program, do some community college, then transfer, commute to a four year university, live on campus at a four year university - then she can research options and make choices on the level "large public versus small liberal arts". The OPs D isn't there yet.