I completely agree that you should consider SUNY Buffalo.
It’s under everyone’s radar.
No one wants to go there because of the weather. Our daughter, however, had really good choices in schools, but she chose to go to Buffalo because of the minimal cost to us and because of their programs.
We’re in California. Yes the UCs accepted her.
If our daughter, from Southern California,
with her surfboard and flip-flops, can go to the tundra of Buffalo to get a really good underrated education in engineering, and come back to California, as well as, become a manager/mentor to many engineers, then your son should be able to tough it out in snow drifts of Buffalo.
Check it out. It’s reasonably priced, becoming stronger in their programs, and their graduates are out performing their expectations (according to our daughter’s managers). It’s a good school