Below are colleges with majors in Animal Sciences, Zoology, or Veterinary Sciences that are residential campuses. As far as admissions, I think that your daughter is likely to get into all of them except for Cornell, which is unlikely for all applicants. How I sorted them, therefore, was more based on sticker prices and my (fallible) sense of how likely the merit aid would be to get into your desired price range. If you dig into the scholarships section of the various universities, it is very possible that an institution I classified as “possible” has an automatic scholarship that would make it fit in the extremely likely category; I just don’t know one way or the other if it does.
Extremely likely (90+ % chance for admittance & affordability)
• SUNY Oswego (6900 students; in close proximity to marshes, lake, and multiple wildlife management areas); $34k sticker
• University of Wyoming (9k students; in close proximity to state parks and wildlife refuges); $30k sticker
• University of Wisconsin – River Falls (5400 students; in close proximity to a couple of state parks, a wildlife waterfowl area, a wildlife fishery area, and mountain biking trails); $21k sticker
• Montana State (14k students; in close proximity to multiple mountain trails and other hiking options); $35k sticker
• South Dakota State University (9k students; near some lakes); $20k sticker
• University of Idaho (6800 students ; 45m to a national forest and an arboretum/botanical garden is in town ); $34k sticker
• University of Wisconsin – Platteville (6800 students; within close proximity of 2 state parks); $15k sticker
Likely (60-85% chance of admittance & affordability)
• Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (3500 students; Allegheny National Forest & State Parks would be easy day trip); $38k sticker
• University of Maine (9k students; in very close proximity to a wildlife refuge, a conservation area, and multiple recreational trails); $42k sticker, but I believe that Maine has an offer for meritorious students to pay their flagship tuition’s rate. If OH is in the qualifying region, then this would move it up to Extremely Likely.
Possible (25-55% chance of admittance & affordability)
• University of New Hampshire (less than 12k students and appears to have woods abutting the campus, and other forests in very close proximity); $46k sticker
• University of Vermont (about 11k students, with forests, state parks, and wildlife management areas nearby); $54k sticker
• University of Rhode Island (14k students; in close proximity to swamps, skiing, beaches, and wildlife management areas); $45k sticker
Unlikely (less than 25% chance of admittance & affordability)
• Cornell (run their NFC to see if you would qualify for any financial aid…sometimes there can be pleasant surprises)