Seconding Lindagaf’s questions. More than 80% of the students at your school have sub-3.0 GPA’s? Is it incredibly grade-deflated, or are few of these students college-bound? Are your grades trending upward? How advanced is your coursework?
You’re getting a bit of a late start on the application process, plus you note that studying abroad is important to you. Have you considered doing a gap year abroad as a high school “super-senior” in an overseas high school? This would not only give you the international experience you want, but would also give you more time to prepare for college apps, take more advanced courses, and potentially raise your GPA if your senior year grades will be good. Look into the options with AFS - it could be a win-win for you.
In the hypothetical case where you could get into UIUC or UMD, would the out-of-state cost of these schools be within your budget? What about full-paying for a private school - is that a possibility for you, or no?
You have a lot of options, just not a lot of time.
In the NY public system, there should be both four-year and two-year schools (some of the latter still have dorms) that would work. Oswego is particularly co-op oriented, which might appeal to you. Not sure if you could get into CS at Buffalo, but it’s worth a try - very good STEM school.
For about the same cost, you could consider the University of Maine; a 3.0 GPA qualifies you for their Flagship Match program, which would discount the tuition to cost the same as a SUNY.
There are some good OOS publics that you could probably get into - you just wouldn’t get merit, so you’d need to weigh whether full-paying for these schools would be worthwhile. I’m thinking of schools like Virginia Commonwealth, College of Charleston, Miami of Ohio, WVU. There are good options in the west and southwest too, as you note, but it sounds like you’d rather not go that far.
There are liberal arts colleges with CS majors that you’d have a shot at, as well… but again, you’re not likely to get a lot of merit so the question is budget.
You could try for URI’s International Computer Science program: https://www.uri.edu/programs/program/international-computer-science-program/ I’m not sure how much more competitive this is than the university generally, and whether you’d have a shot at it, but it definitely checks the study abroad box!
If full-pay private is possible, you might be able to get into BU’s College of General Studies (which can funnel into any major you choose after the first two years). This would be a spring start, with the first semester in London, followed by summer classes to cover the rest of freshman year.
There are lots of OOS publics with strong CS, that have less-competitive branch campuses. This would function similarly to going to community college, except that these schools have four year programs, so you wouldn’t have to transfer to the main campus, but you’d have that opportunity if you did well. Systems to consider include Purdue, Pitt, Penn State, and UMass, among others. But your options within the SUNY system may be just as good for a lot less money.
There are also some interesting feeder programs in Virginia - Richard Bland College is a residential 2-year that gives guaranteed admission to William & Mary if you meet the criteria. There’s also UVA Wise.
Lots of options. But given the timeline and your desire to study abroad, I still think an AFS year could position you the best, especially if your grades are trending upward.
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