Making notes so I don’t have to re read this helpful thread - St. Joe’s (Philly), Loyola (MD), U Dayton (OH) are similar to Gonzaga.
Try Fairfield, Fordham, and Scranton U. All schools about the same as Gonzaga. Reminder that Spokane is just as cold as New England in the winter and the summers are very hot. It is a four-hour drive to Seattle.
As others have said, depends on your kid. Cross-country flights can be as short as 5-6 hours if direct, or many many many hours longer if home and/or school aren’t near a major airport.
Older kid went from west coast to attend east coast school. Having her in a time zone three hours ahead meant that she could could call home at 1 AM her time, and we the parents were still awake to discuss the latest existential crisis. For east coast parents, the time shift doesn’t work in your favor that way.
Our kid was on the west coast…and we were on the east coast. She called us on Sundays when she woke up…which was afternoon our time. It was never a problem.
She spent two years in Eastern Africa…and again…we never had difficulty finding a time every week to talk.
It just took some planning.
Our kid who went to the west coast for college did not stay there after graduation.
Our kid who went to college in the same eastern time zone as us, now lives in MST…so don’t assume they will live closeby just because they go to college closeby.