Troy has its charms. I’ll be up there again for the RPI - U of Rochester football game this month. Hard to beat an RPI education. However, they can be a bit tight with financial aid and in some ways harder to get into than Cornell Engineering.
I second the the recommendation of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Excellent STEM education and surprisingly a national reputation, A boat load of Mines students come from out-of-state, and not just the mountain west or plains states; I know of SDSM&T students from California, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington State. Best of all, the COA is a great bargain. Last year for OOS it was $22,000. Watch “Why I Go to Mines” on you tube.