Schools with Wildlife biology

Animals have have always been a passion of mine and I think I would like to pursue a degree in wildlife biology or something related such as ecology, conservation biology, etc. I really am having a hard time deciding where to apply though. Cost is going to play a major role into where I can go so OOS public schools really are not an option if I am going to be stuck paying 30k a year or more. I really would like to keep it down to 15k a year or less. I do believe I will get generous financial aid due to my families financial circumstances but we will see.

I am from NY so as of right now my first choice is SUNY ESF by far. I visited it and loved it but I was wondering what some of my other options could be just incase that doesn’t work out and I don’t get in. I would generally like to try and stay in the Northeast so I can afford to go home for the holidays but . Another school I was considering was possibly Stony Brook. I’m not really a fan of boats for some reason. I have some irrational fear I guess hehe… Kinda like a fear of heights.
Some of my stats are
New SAT-1340
Weighted GPA-93ish
Rank- 14 out of 76 I believe

AP Scholar with honor

Extracurriculars
-Varsity lacrosse for 4 years with 1st team all star sophomore and Junior year. MVP sophomore year.
-Summer lacrosse sophomore and junior year
-Ski club all of high school
-Internship at an architecture firm. I for the longest time wanted to go into architecture but the internship steered me otherwise. I’m not sure if I should add this to my common app?

I know my stats are average but are there any schools where I might get some merit?

Thank you!

If your family income is below average (< $50K) then, especially at this fairly late date, you might have better luck pursuing need-based aid than merit scholarships. If you like some of the SUNYs and are fairly confident you’ll be admitted, then you might want to focus on relatively selective (but not too selective) private schools that claim to cover 100% of financial need.

Check out Colorado College. Its one-course-at-a-time block plan creates flexibility for off-campus field work in majors such as biology, geology, and environmental science. Its location at the foot of the Rocky Mountains places it near the intersection of several ecological zones where plants and animals can be studied in their natural habitats (https://www.coloradocollege.edu/academics/dept/obe/).
Then of course there’s the Colorado skiing.
Your class rank (outside the top 10%) would make it a reach, especially since they are not need-blind. However, they seem to place heavy weight on the essays.

Other possibilities:
College of the Holy Cross
Connecticut College
Union College

These are small colleges that won’t necessarily have rich offerings in wildlife biology.
However, they do claim to cover 100% of demonstrated financial need (and are less selective than many other schools that make that claim.)

Run the NPC at Juniata College (in PA) to see how it might work out for you. Many of our environmental kids like the school.

One of the best schools in the country for Wildlife Biology is SUNY ESF and it comes at a great price tag even for out of state students. You are in state so even better. It in Syracuse NY and is part of the SU campus. You have full rights as a student there too - classes, clubs etc. Its a competitive school and you fit the bill. I believe you will get in and you will get great assistance on top of NYS in-state tuition.