Hey all!
I go to a school of 99 students in rural Illinois, and my class size is 23 students. I rank 10th currently, with a 3.7 GPA. With a class size this small, will colleges take less of a look at this, since my rank in such a small class could indicate that the class was just a smarter one?
Ask your guidance counselor, but I’m guessing you’re not ranked. Fewer than half the high schools do, nowadays, and with such a small school it wouldn’t really make sense. If I were you, I would ask the guidance counselor to contaxtualize your position in comparison to students over 5 or 10 years, ie., 100-200 students. Would you be top 10% among those? Top 20%? Top 25%
Colleges don’t necessarily care a lot about rank. They do care about course rigor, but at such a small school I’m guessing there was little choice in “regular”, “honors”, and “Ap”, nor would there be a community college at which dual enrollment would be easy…
What’s your ACT and what universities are you aiming for?
I would recomment you apply to some LACs in order to facilitate the transition.
I have not taken the ACT/SAT yet, but I will. I took the PSAT too, but I don’t recall my score from memory. There is a community college around here which I will take dual enrollment in the spring semester. As for AP and Honors, we don’t have the former, and the latter is limited. I have a strong extracurricular background (working at two newspapers since the beginning of sophomore year is the highlight), though, so I plan for that to make up for my lack of rigor.
As for colleges, the in-state favorite is UIUC, while out-of-state interests include Missouri (strong journalism program) and somewhere down south. Clemson and a Florida university (UF, FSU, UCF) especially.
Are you a junior?
EC’s don’t make up for lack of rigor and I hope you mean “adult newspapers”/publications, but hopefully your GC has a school profile that explains class offerings are limited so you won’t be penalized for not taking classes that aren’t offered. It’s very important you decided to take dual-enrollment classes. What classes will you be taking? Those classes should mirror the “core classes” that you’d be expected to be taking: English/composition, precalculus or calculus, a foreign language (level 2 or 3), a science class (a class for non scientists is fine), and a History class.
What’s your parents’ budget?
OOS public universities don’t have financial aid (it’s for their instate residents) and while some award merit aid, you’d need a very high ACT score for this. So, preparing for the ACT is your best bet as of now.
Mizzou has a top journalism program, true. So definitely keep it on the list.
However, look at colleges with strong writing programs and strong digital media/communication programs: Kenyon, for one, of course, plus Ithaca, but look into Hendrix, Centre, Knox, Lake Forest, DePaul, Earlham, Grinnell… depending on your test scores.
Are you first gen (meaning neither parent graduated from a 4-year college)?
Being a kid from rural Illinois may well be a “boost” to a “hook” at some private colleges trying to increase socio-economic and geographical diversity.
Yes, I am a junior.
Yes, these are adult newspapers. I estimate I’ll have a few hundred articles written by the time I graduate, all of which are saved and laminated. I work for the school newspaper, too, along with the yearbook.
For dual enrollment, those classes were probably the ones I am going to take. I don’t know specifically yet, though.
Budget is unknown, but I’ll take all the financial aid I can get.
Yes, I am first-gen. Mom graduated from a community college, Dad just a HS diploma.
The Florida public universities will not care about your class rankings (with the exception of UF, that doesn’t use rankings, but does care how you performed versus your peers in your class). They will care about class rigor. If you’re taking the most rigorous classes offered at your school, you’ll be fine.
UF is least likely to award any merit aid. FSU does offer OOS tuition waivers (if your stats are high enough), while UCF/USF, and such are much more likely to offer tuition waivers or merit aid. The application fee is $30, so you may want to apply to two Florida Universities (especially if one is UF), so you can compare financial offers.
UF’s admissions deadline is Nov 1st.
FSU has two deadlines, Oct 15 (decision date 12/9) and January 13th (decision date 3/16/16)
UCF, USF and the other state universities are on rolling admissions. However, the sooner you apply, the more likely your chances are at getting a tuition waiver or merit aid.
Tuition at Florida’s publics are around $6,500 a year, so the OOS Tuition waiver is nice. 
Good Luck on your ACT/SAT!
@Gator88NE I’m a junior, so I still have a little bit of time to raise my GPA up a bit. I feel my EC’s are fantastic, so I don’t expect a problem. I would looooovveee to go to UCF. We’re visiting in the spring, and from pictures the campus looks gorgeous. I am majoring in journalism, so how does this compare to a stronger program like, say, Missouri’s?
Make sure you run the Net Price Calculator for each of your schools. Few public colleges offer much financial aid to out of state students.
CaucAsianDad gave you a solid overview in your other thread. Here’s a recent article on UCF, that touches on some of the challenges (and advantages) of attending a school with 54,000 students.
UCF has a decent journalism program, the Nicholson’s School of Communication is fairly large with a wide range of majors. However, it’s a step or two behind Missouri’s, which is one of the best in the country.
If you check out the UCF forums, you can find threads going back a few years that discuss merit aid (including OOS).
When we visit in 2014, my dd really liked the campus. Either you love it or hate it. 
Good Luck!
Not sure UCF is your best option - what attracts you to it?