<p>Well, I'll start by showing some of myself.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore, so I want to get an idea of a university I'll be looking at. I'm a white male, with lower than 50k income a year. I live in Florida. Going out of state is a possibility, if I have enough money?</p>
<p>I'm really not sure what I want to major in. Careers I'm thinking of include teaching, lawyer (probably not anymore), therapist, etc. I really want to involve something with people. I have little help at my school for searching for a college, and I won't ever.</p>
<p>Right now, I'm 2nd in my class of 441. I have a gpa of 4.24 (approximate, not official until semester grades come out), and my unweighted is 4.0. I should have 8-10 AP's done by my senior year, and I only have one this year as a sophomore. I plan to have 4 to 5 jr/senior year. My EC's include Law Team 2 yrs, Class Coordinator freshman year, Math team all 4 years, Volunteer group at school, Executive council 4x years, Soccer Referee, and a job (jr-sr year). My EC's won't get much stronger than that, besides tutoring junior + senior year at the neighbor middle school. Besides that, there may be little EC's added here or there. I obviously have no SAT scores or anything.</p>
<p>I'm just trying to get an idea of some colleges that would suit me, or be interested in looking at. I'm a liberal male, that wouldn't fit into a christian/catholic university (most likely).</p>
<p>The university that's been recommended to me most would be the University of Florida.</p>
<p>How hard is it to get to your local public library? They should have copies of the college directories and review books. No one book will give you all you need, so use them in conjunction with each other. At this point in the process you should just be skimming them, putting some time into figuring out if you like a compact campus, big time sports, feel comfortable in a city/rural/suburban environment, cold weather, etc.</p>
<p>Another thing you could do is go down the list of top LACs and universities that are here on this website. Not to say that any of them are the right one for you, but it gives you some info for mentally comparing and contrasting colleges.</p>
<p>Is there any college near your home, even one you don't want to go to? Take a college tour and go to the informational session. Use it as an opportunity to learn what what criteria others are factoring in. Chat with the kids to find out where else they are considering and then look them up.</p>
<p>It is good you are working on this now, particularly as you say you won't get much help from your school. Are there any adults in the soccer world that you could ask for advice?</p>
<p>Many colleges (top lacs and other lacs) have mailing lists and programs for visiting for kids from lower income families. Get on the list at any schools you like and find out if you would have a dedicated admissions officer. Find out about Questbridge and other programs to help lower income students go to college.</p>
<p>I would also suggest that you prepare for next year's PSAT. If you score high enough to reach semifinalist status, you'll find many universities that offer substantial scholarships, including full-rides.</p>