Late to respond, but I didn't see any mention of opportunities for coop jobs over summers or full semesters mentioned. My son went to Texas A&M and had a number of coops. Learned a ton about the various companies and work structures/habits and decided that he liked compsci much better than electrical engineering and didn't like the larger corperations.
RPI bad a good coop program when I went there (91-92). But I don't know how it is now. I was married and transferred in from Hudson Valley Community College (also in Troy), so didn't get the 'full experience'. I'm from central NY, so winters were no big deal with a couple ice storm exceptions. Troy was ok when I was there. But, if in on campus housing, it shouldn't be a problem. Lots of city schools are in bad areas of town but have pretty good security.
Congrats on VT, if that's the way he goes.
PS RPI has a killer model train setup in the basement of one of the dorms. If anyone visits, definitely check it out.
https://union.rpi.edu/club-directory/rensselaer-model-railroad-society/