I'm basically in the same boat that you are. I was accepted to GW Elliott but have pretty much ruled it out due to the high tuition costs. Now I'm debating between UT LBJ (MGPS) versus A&M Bush School MPIA. I'm a Texas resident and didn't receive any funding for LBJ, but I did get a $20,000 fellowship plus full tuition at A&M, which is why this is such a difficult decision. I've heard a lot of conflicting things about A&M's reputation, so I'm leaning towards LBJ.
I'm not sure how LBJ and A&M compare in terms of IR (rather than just policy), but UT has some great grad programs across the board and Austin seems like a great city to live in. If you get off the waitlist at UT, I would probably go there. I don't think the significant difference in tuition for GW is worth being in D.C. for a couple of years (you can always do a summer internship there anyways!).
