@sunwalker We were in the same situation, different major. Son is a high stats student and had many choices, but we focused on schools that give a full ride for National Merit Finalist because costs in the northeast with merit still would cost us $30-$40k a year. This brought us to Florida and he chose FSU for astrophysics. It was the only school that has this concentration where he could get a full ride. Hard to pass up. He got into UF, but did not get honors and he wanted the benefits honors brings. He also liked the campus better from what we see virtually and not being able to visit. That a bit of a leap of faith, but it looks amazing.
If your son’s ultimate goal is the State Dept, one thing to consider is that Tallahassee is the state capitol and there may be possibilities of working/interning in state government while he’s there. Just something to look into.