Help me formulate a plan

<p>Ok so I am a senior in HS, and admittingly I screwed up royally, but instead of lamenting at my situation, I chose to make the best of my senior year, try to get as good grades as possible, and take my first AP class to set myself up for the future.
So I am planning on going to a CUNY (City University Of New York) 2 or 4 year I do not know yet. But I really want to go to a higher education school, maybe get away from home, and get that campus life feeling. I made a little list of schools that I would like to go to with a combination of these, and other factors.
Fordham, Syracuse,Rutgers,NYU,Penn State,Maryland,Hofstra?
I know that all of these schools are going to be difficult for me to get into, but I am committed to working hard and getting there.
So now a couple of questions. What kind of grades/Extracurriculars would I need to have a chance. I am a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor, and am going to start (Hopefully do well) On the international level next year, and I also assist in coaching the number 2 ranked kids team in the country so I guess that would help. Also should I be looking at going to a CC for 1 or both years to have a chance at transferring to these schools?
I am not limiting myself to these schools so if you want to suggest any other schools to me feel free. Sorry for this long post, but this excites me lol thanks in advance!!!</p>

<p>Bump I would really like the insight</p>

<p>For most public Universities (like Rutgers, Penn St and MD) ECs don’t matter much if at all. Privates will sometimes consider them. The bigger question is what kind of college can you afford? I assume you are a NY resident? How will you pay for NYU or an OOS school?</p>

<p>Right now I don’t know. I will definitely qualify for need based aid and will work my ass off to get any other kind of scholarships or grants possible. If my sister/cousin and her mother were able to pay for Fordham I know I’ll find a way to pay. I’m just trying to keep my options open, I think that getting an education at some of these places makes a difference.</p>

<p>Just to add that if you mention you want a “campus life” type of school the CUNYs might not offer that because they are urban schools. IIRC some of them don’t offer dorms. </p>

<p>You might want to look into some of the SUNYs.</p>

<p>You won’t get anything beyond federal FA from Rutgers, Penn State, MD and NYU (notoriously bad for FA unless you have very high stats). Drop those. As Schrizto recommended, look at some SUNYs.</p>

<p>I know that the CUNY’s offer little to no campus life, but I am going to go to one for 1 or 2 years to better my chances of transferring out to a bigger more prestigious school. Is that always true with those schools, I was very interested in Rutgers, less so in the others.</p>

<p>Public Us are supported by in-state taxes. As a result only a couple of publics will provide FA to OOS students (UNC-CH and UVA). For the rest you only get what the federal gov’t supports (Stafford, Pell).</p>