<p>Wrong section, please delete.</p>
<p>It’s a big job to start thinking about where you might want to go to college - and sophomore year is a great time to start! Does your school have a counselor? If so, make an appointment with him/her, and ask for their help. Talk to your parents - they will be able to help you with this process, too.</p>
<p>On your own, you might want to do a bit of research. Here are some books for you to check out; your public library might have these, or could get them for you via InterLibrary Loan. (And you can often find used copies from previous years; a new edition of these books come out every year, and often there is not much change in the info year-to-year.)</p>
<p>Fiske Guide to Colleges
Complete Guide to Colleges, Princeton Review
Book of Majors, College Board
Guide to Colleges, College Board</p>
<p>Ivy League schools are great - but there are many, many, many other great colleges out there! Admission to an Ivy League school is a long-shot, even for someone with supposedly “perfect stats.” Be sure and expand your search to a wide variety of schools. One book that I particularly like:</p>
<p>“Colleges that Change Lives - 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College,” by Loren Pope</p>
<p>“Colleges that Change Lives” also has a website: [Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org%5DColleges”>http://www.ctcl.org)</p>
<p>General advice: don’t worry about comparing yourself to other kids in other types of programs, IB for example. You sound like a really neat young person - be confident in your own strengths. Have you taken the SAT or the ACT yet? You’ll want to do that soon - your test scores will give you an idea of what schools might be a good academic fit for you. </p>
<p>There are SO many options out there - it can be daunting to try to pare them down to a reasonable list to research. Ask yourself some basic questions:
- do I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to major in? If so - concentrate on schools that have strong programs in that major. If not, you might want to lean toward a more “liberal arts” college to keep your options open
- do I want to be close to home (a few hours drive away) or can I be across the country?
- do I want an urban environment, or a suburban or rural environment?
- do I want a small (less than 2500), medium (up to 5,000), large (5,000 to 10,000) or REALLY large (10,000 and up) school?
- do I need substantial financial aid? What kind of aid is available at the school (both need-based and merit-based)?</p>
<p>That’s just a very short list of questions, but hopefully you get the idea. I expect when you talk to your school counselor, they’ll talk to you about applying to a range of schools:</p>
<ul>
<li>Safety: apply to at least one or two schools that you know that you will be accepted to attend, and that you would be happy attending</li>
<li>Likely: apply to 4-5 schools that you have around a 35-40% or better chance of attending, and that you would be happy attending</li>
<li>Reach: apply to 2-3 schools where it is very difficult to gain admission (25% or less)</li>
</ul>
<p>Some kids apply to only a few schools, other kids apply to more than a dozen. I personally think applying to 8-10 schools is plenty.</p>
<p>Notice the phrase - “that you would be happy attending” - that is key! It may seem obvious, but when you put together your list of schools to apply to - keep that in mind! Otherwise you’re wasting your time and money applying to a school you just can’t see yourself attending!</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best in your college search!</p>
<p>@iamnotrodel - just saw that you deleted your original post. Hopefully you’ll get this response.</p>