I know a bit about the northeast, as I'm a Professional Engineer (civil/ structural) and been at this for 30+ years.
I graduated from Clarkson College (Now Clarkson University) in Potsdam, NY, and can recommend it. It was a greaet place to go to school, and has great engineering programs. Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical One of the professors that I had, later worked for me while on sababticl to gain some applicable real-life experince.
RPI in Renssalear, NY is similar, and always a Clarkson rival in hockey.
SUNY Buffalo, has a good Civil prgram, ad I have had a professor from there work on a project with us. Not familiar with their other disciplines.
Cooper Union, NY, NY. I know they have Civil (I've had graduates work with me) and Chemical (my nephew is a senior). Top notch school, and until very recently if you were accepted, tuition was free. That changed in the last year, but still a very great deal at a great school.
Manhattan College, Bronx, NY. Their Civil Engineering program has been recognized as producing very good engineers.
Rutgers University, NJ. I know they have agood Civil program and professors from there have worked on project with us.
Lehigh University, PA, has a great Civil Engineering program.
Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
MIT, already mentioned in prior posts.
I have worked with engineers from all of these, and you probably can't go wrong at any of them.
Whatever school that you end up attending, make sure that they are ABET (
http://www.abet.org/accreditation/) accredited in the discipline that you pursue. This is important towards getting your professional licensure.
FYI, My nephew was accepted at both MIT and Cooper Union, and after speaking to a graduate of Cooper Union that used to work for me, selected Cooper Union. Two big things, saving over $100K in tuition, and if he decided to go to graduate school, MIT only accpets students from other schools, so if you went undergrad to MIT, then that was no longer a choice for grad school.
Good Luck!