Assuming your 3.9 GPA is unweighted, it’s quite good! Are you taking the most challenging classes available to you at your high school (e.g. honors or AP classes)? Do you know your weighted GPA?
How many times have you taken the SAT? If only once, you might consider taking the ACT and/or retaking the SAT. A higher test score will open more college options for you.
Have you discussed college costs/budget with your family? That will be an important factor in determining which colleges you should examine. Each college has a “net price calculator” somewhere on their web site. You can use that to get an estimate of what that college will cost you to attend base on your families financial situation. Each college has their own method and funds available so be sure to research each college using the net price calculator.
Finally, a good place to start the search is (a) your high school counselor, and (b) one of the many college search engines online (e.g. https://www.■■■■■■■■■■/) where you can enter your test scores, GPA, geographic preferences, etc. to find schools to research.
Come back and post again as you have questions. Good luck!
I have a 3.9 weighted and I might take the SAT again in August.
I’ve been on cappex, but it doesn’t seem right because it says I’m a fit for colleges like Cornell which I am pretty sure I am not.
Tools like cappex aren’t perfect, but serve as starting points for research. For example, at Cornell your SAT scores put you squarely in the middle 50% for enrolling students. Next I’d look at class rank – are you in the top 10% of your class? 90% of Cornell students were. If you are too, then perhaps add it to your list.
Take your time to do the research. These “quantifiable” factors (test scores, class rank, GPA, etc) are merely indicators of whether you would be competitive for admission to a school or not.
The next level of research would be more “qualitative” factors based on your preferences. For example:
School size: large, medium, small
Geography: In/near a large city, or more remote
Areas of study: More pre-professional or more liberal arts
(1) Do you prefer urban/suburban/town/rural?
(2) Small college focused on undergraduates or large research university or something in-between?
(3) Open to schools with a religious affiliation (e.g. Catholic) or prefer nonsectarian campus, or would you consider either?
(4) If you identify as a woman, would you be open to a single-sex campus, or prefer coeducational?