To add to what you are saying about SUNY, the Future New Yorker awards of $8000 and $7500 at Oneonta and Cortland respectively are automatic awards which every out of stat student automatically receives. They are NOT scholarships which you might receive. Sorry that I dib not make that clear in my original post.
I need more clarification on the amount of the Cortland award because I think that the amount MAY be gpa dependent. At one time everyone got the full amount, but I think that it’s now variable with $7500 being the maximum amount. The status of both of these awards should be checked because such awards can change from year to year depending on budget actions by the stat legislature. @Mashinations, do you have the most current information on this at these 2 campuses?
In a funny twist of fate, my GS, who is a NY resident, is an out-of-state student at UMass, which undoubtedly has more geographic diversity than Oneonta or Cortland. Nonetheless, ALL of his UMass friends are from Mass. That gang is taking an intersession trip to Montreal in the next couple of weeks. His route is NYC > Boston > Montreal because Boston area is where the rest of the gang is. I think when you attend an out-of -state college anywhere, with a few exceptions you’re part of a small minority. Haha.
I have no idea how I didn’t see this thread before, but a few thoughts. First off, congratulations to your son on all of his acceptances so far! It also sounds as though he had a stronger first senior semester as you’re anticipating his overall GPA will go up. All good things!
I’m going to strongly second or third Marshall (WV). It has about 8200 undergrads, a strong history of supportive services, and there is an airport (but it would require a connecting flight to Boston). Also going to second the SUNY-Cortland recommendation (5900 undergrads with a sporty student body and lots of options that might appeal to your son). There have also been some other great recommendations made, too.
Some other possibilities include:
East Stroudsburg (PA ): About 4700 undergrads at this school between Scranton and NYC with good proximity to the Poconos.
Kutztown (PA ): About 6400 undergrads at this school roughly between Scranton and Philly.
Salisbury (MD): About 6300 undergrads, a cute town, and I’ve heard good things about the undergraduate experience here. Outdoorsy opportunities will lean more towards the water than the mountains here.
SUNY Oswego: About 5700 undergrads, on Lake Ontario, with access to hiking and the finger lakes.
Grand Valley State (MI): About 19k undergrads and 35m from the Grand Rapids airport (which has a direct flight to Boston 4 days a week). @bigelom3 is (was?) a student there and has had good experiences there (here’s 1 post and there’s another a little bit further down the page)
The 8K at Oneonta seems to only stipulate applicable to all OOS students.
The $7.5K at Cortland doesn’t specify any specific GPA to receive the award but need to maintain at least a 2.0 to retain it.
With these awards it gets the expected cost of attendance in the mid/high $20K/year.
When you mentioned Susquehanna in your opening post and also that he wants to possibly become a firefighter, it made me think of something from admitted students day at the school.
One of the student presenters, a junior who had been training to be an EMT since high school, was working as a real EMT for the local town and had just received approval to have a student run EMT response vehicle that would cover the campus. I believe he also received a small community based scholarship for organizing this. You might have already considered volunteering with a local fire department at whichever school ends up as a solid idea.
Also if you haven’t and can, Susquehanna might be worth a visit. It’s a beautiful campus, in a beautiful area, next to a quaint little downtown. It’s small, 2300 kids but the campus is big for the number of kids. Plus I’m sure he received some good merit money that should bring your cost into the budget.
Even without merit, current billed charges are just under $35K out of state (tuition, fees, room and board) - so it merits investigation by OP to see whether it’s worthy for them - merit or not - given it is under the $40K desirability regardless. In other words, it fits what they seek - not horribly far from Syracuse airport (not close) but also reasonably drivable from any part of Mass. 5 hours from Cortland to Boston and less than 4 Oneonta to Boston.
Central Wis Airport is in Mosinee, about 20 minutes away. Connects to many major airports (MSP, ORD). Both Lacrosse and Eau Claire would also require a connection, most likely through MSP.