<p>SUNY ESF is a great State Uni of New York with really strong env science programs. But, it might not be as non-selective as you would like.</p>
<p>I don't think that Washington College is known for financial aid (have not checked the % of need met in some time). They do give out nice merit aid, but I don't think it is going to be much with those stats, and certainly not going to cost meet an efc of 22k. I think that there will be a sizable gap.</p>
<p>I think he has to be really realistic about his picks unless you think he can raise his SAT scores. According to the NCES website Most of the schools that have been mentioned say that 75% of the accepted students scored over 600 in each section. Syracuse is high 600's. Also, if he wants merit aid, he needs to have higher scores then most students, not lower. One exception is DeSales. Great school but it doesn't have an environmental science major. I live in the same area as the OP's nephew. A lot of kids around here that don't have high stats go to a PSU branch campuses for two years and then transfer to the Main Campus. </p>
<p>The other set of Pennsylvania state (not PSU) Colleges offer a wealth of choices and lots of kids go to Kutztown, Millersville, West Chester, East Stoudsburg, etc from this area. They are very reasonably priced for in-state residents.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the continued suggestions. The parents did not attend college and are a little overwhelmed trying to navigate the process for the first time so I'm trying to give them a path to explore.</p>
<p>I spent some time yesterday researching the schools mentioned and many of the PA publics. Many of the PA publics seem to be "teachers colleges" with an emphasis on education majors. Does anyone know which PA publics, other than PSU-Main (which they know is not a possibility), have strong science departments? I have a niece (from another branch of the family) who is very happy at East Stroudsburg and I think they are trying to build their science programs. Kutztown seems like another possibility.</p>
<p>The Universities in the PA state system of higher education - did begin as teacher's colleges and have fabulous education programs.
However, they have diversified greatly. Kutztown has a really good science dept - a new science building and Marine and Environmental Science. Each year they have a science open house that perhaps he can attend with his parents.
Additionally, Kutztown is a nice little college town with fantastic bus service to Philadelphia, Allentown and NYC.</p>
<p>Justamom said it exactly what I was going to say. There is an emphasis on education majors at most state schools, but that makes sense. Once you graduate from your own state school you will be accredited to teach there. My son looked at both Kutztown and Millersville and liked them both. I wrote a review of Kutztown that might interest you: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/kutztown-university%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/kutztown-university</a> The only concern I have about Kutztown is that it's so close that kids tend to come home on weekends and may not have the say college growing up experience that they would if they went just a little bit further.</p>
<p>Millersville has a similar bus service to Philadelphia but is also close to Baltimore. I believe M'ville also has a new Science building. Millersville</a> University - School of Science & Mathematics I kind of liked it more then Kutztown because it was just a little further away.</p>
<p>Southampton would be outside the two-hour radius, but certainly fits all of the other criteria.</p>
<p>Stony</a> Brook Southampton</p>
<p>Check it out!</p>
<p>Chris</p>
<p>I wonder how PA and NY state colleges compare? Cost would be about $7,000 more for NY. Would they be worth the price difference? They were never on the radar screen for my kids but I'm sure someone else has looked into this. One of my kids looked into University of Delaware and the other looked into Towson, University of MD but the price difference with the in-state schools made the OOS schools unjustifiable.</p>
<p>Kathiep, I agree. We have looked at some OOS public U pricing and the cost since we looked for our older son has gotten much more expensive. SUNYs had a 2700 OOS price increase, so for our family they are no longer looking so attractive. Some campuses do offer merit scholarships specifically for OOS, but others do not.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone. I've set up a nice little spreadsheet with many of the schools mentioned here, and a few others I've found, and sent it to my nephew. I think they have a great starting point now. I did include some schools with great enviro/marine programs that stretch their desired geographic radius as food for thought.</p>
<p>Does anyone have a suggestion as to which FA calculators seem to give somewhat accurate EFCs? We did not need FA so this is new territory for me, and I was thinking they should probably try more than one to get a better idea of where they stand.</p>
<p>"Pretty sure that Drew is standardized test optional (ie: submit graded written paper).</p>
<p>If you don't mind off campus housing, go for it."</p>
<p>Hey northeastmom! Absolutely right re: SAT optional policy. But I'm a little confused about the housing comment. As I understand it, most Drew students live on campus. And of particular interest to this student, Drew just opened a brand new "green" dorm that is the first in NJ to achieve LEED Certification.</p>
<p>cadbury, the off campus housing comment was NOT about Drew. It was about Richard Stockton, a NJ state school. </p>
<p>Good to hear about the new "green" dorm at Drew. What does the LEED certification mean?</p>
<p>From USGBC:</a> U.S. Green Building Council </p>
<p>"The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria."</p>
<p>Just FYI, Drew is the most expensive college in NJ.
My son applied there and did get a scholarship, but it was only large enough to cover housing and a bit more.<br>
I don't know if Fairleigh Dickinson U offers what you are looking for, but it is a great school to attend. And it offers an incredible study abroad program in England.</p>
<p>The cost to attend Drew is comparable to (and often lower than) most of the top 100 LACs. They are also relatively generous with merit aid, and have a great international/off-campus program.</p>
<p>That said, FDU/Madison is only about half a mile away. If they have an Environmental Studies program, your S should definitely take a look at both.</p>