In another thread, she mentions that Montana is the home state.
ME means “me”, I think.
Anyway, I don’t think there will be any direct flights unless her child attends a school by a hub.
In many cases, airline travel is an “all day” event anyway…you have to get to an airport 2 hours early, then there’s the first leg, then there’s the 60+ minute layover, then there’s the second leg. Unless a person leaves at 6am, and is flying into time (EST to PST) generally nearly the whole day is taken up.
We had a kid who didn’t think she would like a southern school…until she visited some southern schools. Her second choice…and it came right down to the April 30 wire, was University of South Carolina where she got a HUGE…and I mean HUGE scholarship.
And as an aside…once my 3000 mile,away kid got to college, she came home at Christmas and for the summer. During the Thanksgiving break (which was a week before finals for the fall term…we weren’t paying to fly her cross country…and then doing it two weeks later again), she went to relatives who loved near the college. In the spring, she did service trips with her college…didn’t come here.
Although wanting a smaller college env’t, honors colleges at some of the larger schools will provide some of the factors for a smaller college env’t. My DD is at University of Alabama, and OP’s son’s stats would qualify him for presidential and engineering scholarships that are automatic with application before deadlines; and if NMF/NMS more. Also look at UAHuntsville which is a very heavy eng/STEM school in an engineering town (one of the highest density of engineers in the Country) - UAH offers degrees through PhD in eng/STEM. People from other parts of the country often respond back about the friendliness of the people on and off of campus. Student may be more comfortable at smaller campus.
My kids didn’t like MS State, but it is another heavy eng school - but it is indeed ‘rural’.
W/O visiting some of the schools with the merit opportunities, you don’t know what you may be missing. As another suggested, Tulane.
Look at ABET accredited programs.
Huntsville has a decent airport; UA kids fly out of B’ham or Atlanta - there are university transport shuttle services that are pre-arranged. UA has a lot of OOS students, in fact more freshmen coming in are OOS than in-state.
What area of engineering does DS want to do? DD is civil/architectural double major and in STEM MBA program.
UA has some terrific honors programs.
IMHO, the CSUs would be a poor choice for an OOS student. The CSUs are mostly instate, and often commuter. They also can be suitcase schools. The weekends don’t have enough to keep kids on campus unless they join a Greek house.
Have we heard what this student’s major and career goals are?
If the mom is looking for low cost options, so that she can afford to either bring her son home for holidays or travel to see him, then she and her son need to be open to a variety of options.
Unless the son chooses a school that is a 2-3 hour DRIVE away from home, frequent visits will not likely happen. It’s just the way it is.
My kids were 2.5 hours away from home. My younger son, rarely came home. My older son liked coming home about once every 3-6 weeks, depending on what was going on. He has a very close friend who also liked coming home, so they’d carpool home every so often. BUT…the issue is time. Once you’re beyond that 2-3 hr drive home, coming home for weekends can be a waste…too much car time. When my southern California niece went to Cal Poly SLO, it was “only” about 5 hours away from her home, but that was too much for frequent home visits.
That said, there are 3 day weekends, fall break, Thanksgiving, Winter Break and Spring Break which all afford longer times when a child (or parent) can travel for a visit. Keeping college costs down can afford those trips.
The mom is concerned that if her son is too far away, she’ll only see him during the summer. That would not be true if he comes home for Winter break, and other breaks.
The son is opposed to the south. Why? Which southern campuses has the son ever visited? If he hasn’t visited any, then this is a good time for him to learn that preconceived notions are often…wrong.
Many southern schools are very cosmopolitan, drawing professors and students from all over the country and the globe. Some have many very high stats students, yet stilll give excellent merit scholarships or need-based aid.
U South Carolina, U Richmond, U Alabama give merit and in warmer climate.
Many, many families make their travel arrangements early, to get the best price and most convenient flights.
You can’t go on what the average price is. Because of how FA is structured, based on parent and kid income, assets, and a few other considerations, you have to personalize this via the NPCs. Averages don’t tell what your offer might be.
No, they won’t always tell you what special merit he might get (I think USC is an example,) so you start with the $ basics the NPCs do show.
If you’re looking into this, you have to have learned the CA publics just won’t offer the aid levels others might.
We strongly advise parents and kids not to go into deep debt, which can be crushing to psy back.
And what many of us know is that, while what the kid “wants” may be a starting point, in the end, that doesn’t determine what his final choices will be. It’s just the wishing. Colleges don’t care that he wants flight convenience or likes their weather.
If you have questions about your NPC results, ask here. If you don’t understand what’s considered, bone up on that.
Lookingforawrd I dont think I implied colleges must “care” for my child. I went back and read every post of mine, just to make sure 
I will make sure he doesnt accept enrollment at a place that involves him sitting in an airport for 12 hours (during bad weather), being on a plane for 5 and then taking an Amtrak for two.
Yep! Thats in my control and I will do my best to make that happen
For me flight convenience and weather are priority 
thanks for reminding me that I need to ask NPC questions
I will make sure I remember that
Thanks for your time 
Mom2collegekids:We all have our likes and dislikes and my son does too. I am and my son are in total agreement with you there are thousands of fantastic colleges down South. No doubt about it!!
What might be a perfect situation for another child will not be so for mine. :))
Thank you for the thoughts abt CA public schools
I will explore and learn about the region
Last summer, my daughter was on a plane trip cross country. She had only one stop…Midway on the way out, Ohare on the way back. Her travel time should have been fine.
Well…her flights both ways were cancelled due to weather that didn’t actually happen. She ended up,spending the night in both places.
She survived.
I have been on direct flights that were canceled, or delayed a LONG time.
If you don’t want to worry about travel, have your kiddo go to a college very close to home so you can drive.
Or don’t live in Montana if you don’t like snow or weather delays in travel.
You can try to reduce delays, but you can’t always control it. Believe it or not, there is bad weather even in Southern California that delays . Or, sometimes, the flight delays are caused by weather in other areas and the planes can’t get to California.
^^^
Oh yes…I can remember waiting all day at LAX for our plane to arrive to take us to Ohare on one Christmas Eve. It was a lovely 70 degrees in LA, but not wherever that plane was coming from.
Put the student’s education first (within family budget and other considerations) and help foster greater independence into adulthood. A match with the student/college/university and doing the best you can on keeping travel arrangements as reasonable as possible.
My DDs are not far, but they are at great schools for them.
Work out your issues to do what is best for the student and the family. To me it seems trying to tightly holding apron strings. Or maybe just needing to talk things out, think things out. It is listening to your head and your heart. You want your student to have the education to move forward in life.
I think location is a big factor when selecting schools. I have no issue with the OP making location the number one factor in picking a school, but then she needs to realize that a lot of schools will be off the list. Location, rank, finances can’t all be the number one factor. Something has to give.
To answer your first question: Expect to pay 36-38K. No financial aid beside the federal loans (5.5K).
Sonoma has small merit scholarships you have to apply to but I really don’t know if they make a dent in tha, they’re probably 1-2K, and Chico State Honors has scholarships of that magnitude, but no full tuition scholarships or such.
Chico State, Sonoma State, SDSU, Cal Poly SLO are relatively more residential than most CSU’s; the first three would be safeties, the last one a good match. SJSU is commuter but is well-known and well-recruited for CS.
You should be looking at private universities: Stanford, HarveyMudd, Pomona, Occidental, Chapman, LMU, Santa Clara - run the NPC on those.
Look at UWashington Seattle. Apply to the Honors College. Costs are 49K a year, max 7K scholarship means 42K a year. Not dry heat, rather mild&humid.
ASU Barrett might be a good option for dry heat.
What about Florida? Might a campus by the water, with good weather from October till April, be okay? NCF, Wilkes Honors College, would both be rather cheap.
^ Minor correction: University of Washington’s OOS merit scholarships range from $5,500 to $8,500 per year.