I have not read the entire thread, but look at Jesuit schools like Marquette. (basketball!!). They also have recently built an incredible engineering building. Go visit!
Agree with somebody up-thread that VT is not going to be the font of much aid, though we love the school (family members went/go there). Engineering is great, football is fun (great win last night!) - lots of involved, good students.
Yes, probably not the best choice if looking for lots of aid. But VT does have a very new engineering building and great recruiting and a good number of OOS kids . And, agree, @SouthFloridaMom9 , a great win last night in the Belk Bowl !
If he wants a MAC school University of Buffalo is one.
Susquehanna in PA has a 3-2 engineering program with Columbia. Prerequisite courses take place at Susquehanna (B grade necessary for these courses.) Of course, not southern and no big sports (though there ARE sports.) Just throwing it out if you feel he needs more structure, personal attention and guidance from his profs those first years… I hear fine things about this school’s nurturing, friendly atmosphere, and academic quality that is possibly greater than it’s current ranking. Of course, for reputation, you can’t beat Columbia if he makes it that far…otherwise, there are plenty of other majors that use math at this school. I have no idea about financial aid, but I think his stats would look good there.
Most 3-2 programs though produce very few kids that actually go on to the engineering part.
No offense to the OP and her son, but imo he wouldn’t get into VT engineering with his grades. Know it pretty well right now and even OOS it would be a reach. Plus you enter as general engineering and after 2 semesters or so declare into your specific engineering, needing a 3.0 at minimum and higher for the more competitive ones. Also not exactly warm (they had snow this morning). But excellent engineering and students absolutely love this school. VERY strong alum network, esp engineering.
And yes, GREAT football win last night 
I think the natural aptitude is there, but you are correct that the background will be lacking. He’ll have BC Calc, AP Physics II, and AP Chem next year but he should definitely retake everything as a freshman rather than take AP credit. Hopefully with the hs exposure to the topics he’ll have a chance if gets off to a good start.
There are any number of small liberal arts colleges that offer structure, personal attention, nurturing, etc., and lack big sports and engineering and generous FA, but they don’t match the OP’s stated priorities. Deliberately paying 5 years of tuition for a 4-year degree is not a sensible strategy for a high-need family, either.
@sybbie719 You mentioned EOP before. Do you have any direct experience? I don’t really know much about it but am wondering if it would be worth trying to apply through HEOP to Cornell. Not that it is what he is looking for, and I have heard that their engineering is brutal, and they never accept anyone from our hs(regular admission)…I think I just answered my own question, lol.
My 3rd kiddo, a high school senior planning to major in engineering, is going through the process right now. She has similar test scores (was NM commended, not NMSF) but a higher GPA. My advice to the OP is to keep an open mind and to be sure to listen to your child throughout the process. My D knew that she needed at least one true safety (a school where she would be guaranteed admission, that was affordable, and that she would be happy to attend). Unfortunately, in our state, the flagship doesn’t pass the affordability test. With that in mind, we took a trip down south and visited a few schools including 'Bama where D had set up a visit through the honors college. I really had no idea what to expect and walked away from the day totally impressed. We happened to be there on the first day of classes in August 2015. The campus was beautiful, everyone was friendly, and we were pleasantly surprised by the academic, social, and networking opportunities offered by both the honors college and the school of engineering. Most importantly, my D walked away seeing the school as a place where she could not only be happy but where she could flourish. I don’t think that either of us expected that when looking at the school solely by numbers (rankings, median test scores, etc). She hasn’t made any final decisions yet, but is happy knowing that she has some great options to choose from thus far. Best of luck to your son as he starts the college search process. Hoping he has lots of great options as well.
I agree that OSU would be a good choice for OP. Great football team, engineering, and potential merit scholarships. My friend’s son has very similar stat and got rejected by UMich in state but accepted by OSU engineering with scholarship that pretty much offset the OOS cost.
.OSU has a nice campus and Columbus seems like a good college town. I do think the OP’s son does have a chance of admission to VT engineering (with a 33 ACT, 221 PSAT, top 10 % of class and OOS), but the finances might not work out if he is accepted. That always seems to be the question with OOS publics. Unless you are talking about a school like Alabama with automatic merit for certain scores. That seems like a great choice if finances are an issue.
My daughter is in engineering and had no Calc, honors physics, and I think AP Chem in high school. No problem getting accepted to colleges, no problem keeping up in school. More than half of her Calc I class had had calc in high school, but daughter didn’t and got an A. I think OP’s son has the background for engineering.
I think you are expecting this child to get into more prestigious schools because your older children did. He’s still a top student and at most schools with a 90+ average and a high ACT school, he’ll do fine.
Grades are the concern at VT imo. 2016 freshman class in school of engineering was 1650 students. Mean GPA for engineering was 4.15,75th percentile- 4.35/ 50th -4.17/ 25th- 3.97. Total freshman class was 4.21/4.0/3.78 over 5900+ students.
SAT 75th percentile/50th/25th
Reading 672/620/570
Math 710/670/630
Writing 650/610/560
Class rank not a big consideration, this school is very numbers driven in admission. Plus the essays
OOS aid minimal.
Agree with @twoinanddone He should do fine and already has a great high school foundation for engineering. Older kid had AP Physics, BC Calculus, etc. in high school, younger son had AP Physics but no calculus at all (like @twoinanddone 's daughter). He just didn’t want to take calculus and didn’t like to do homework! But had no problem getting A’s once he got to college. Sometimes, it is hard for a younger kid to live up to what the older ones did.
Yes, VT seems to care more about grades than SAT’s. Younger kid had 75 % + for Sat’s at the time he applied, instate, excellent EC’s , but about top 15 % with grades- waitlisted and then got off waitlist but not into engineering. Had to work his way in to engineering but that was not a problem. This student is OOS and top 10 % grades with very high scores. Any college will look at the grades in context of the particular high school . The interest does not seem to be there for VT but if it were, the grades and SAT’s seem good enough to give it a shot. Being OOS sometimes seems to be an advantage, but I could be wrong on that. VT engineering is not an easy admit (the overall high admit rates for VT are misleading) but not impossible for a good student. And the student in question is clearly a good student.
Second vote for UCF in Orlando. UCF has big time sports, good engineering and gives good money for NMSF.
^^ A few people have suggested UCF and I took a look. Wow, full COA for NM! It doesn’t seem to get much love on CC though, I wonder why?
It is probably like any school in any state that has higher profile, higher ranked public universities available. More people , especially outside of Florida, would probably think of UF or FSU first.