Did you say he has great stats and is URM? Did he apply to Penn State or Temple?
Normally not affordable OOS but maybe they would pull out their stops for diversity?
@NJRoadie Sorry about his situation and I hope Ithaca comes through with funding for this student.
@NJRoadie, I was under the impression that Montclair offered merit. Has it changed?
@MACmiracle - In my experience (data set = 2) Montclair had no money to offer, nor have I heard of anyone in the last two years being offered any merit from Montclair.
Both my daughter and foster son (who is URM) were offered significant merit from Ramapo and Rowan and none from Montclair. Stockton (neither applied, but friends did) also offered merit. TCNJ offered small amount, Rutgers small (<3K), Montclair nothing.
SATs 1260ish, lots of activities, APs, 3.75 ish GPA…
Thanks for that very helpful info @NJRoadie. All the schools you mentioned are ones we are considering for safeties but I don’t think I’d want to waste the application fee for Montclair if there’s little chance of merit, especially since the housing is on the high side from what I remember. I think Ramapo, Rowan and Stockton would be better fits as well.
Rowan is appealing for the STEM offering and new facilities, but I am concerned about a Rowan as a safety because I’ve heard of strong kids getting denied.
TCNJ also turned down a very, very strong student I know due to majors being capped. As nice as it seems, the lack of merit is an issue, in any case.
@MACmiracle - I’m not sure what “strong kids” is defined as. I would agree that certain majors are more competitive (i.e. Engineering). Personally when I talk about safety I’m speaking about financial affordability as much as getting accepted.
@NJRoadie By strong kids, I mean in a good position for admission based on gpa, test scores, and academic rigor.
@NJRoadie , Just an FYI that we got a mailing from Stockton today and it seems that they have a program that enables students to take up to 20 credits per term and freezes tuition for four years. With merit aid, that is a nice deal.
@NJRoadie - Here is a link to MSU’s tuition outline for 2016 - 2017. Remember, since it is a State School, tuition is less for in-state students than out of state! 
For the current year, it looks like a total in-state cost of $30.988 including every anticipated expense. Still a lot of dough, but much better than Ithaca. https://www.montclair.edu/financial-aid/financing/
It just might still be possible to apply to MSU, to the Cali School of Music - http://www.montclair.edu/arts/cali-school-of-music/admission/instrumentalvocal/
The final audition date of May 11 says it is for Transfer/Grad students, but it might be worth a phone call.
Good luck!!!
@sybbie719 @MYOS1634 aren’t there some SUNYs that have quite good music programs?
The crane school of music and purchase come to mind, but you must audition