I am going to be a senior in high school next year and need some help with the college search process.
Here are my stats:
3.96 UW and 4.19 W GPA
35 Composite ACT
19 out of 600 class rank (I should move up a few spots senior year)
2 AP’s sophomore year, 4 junior year, and 6 scheduled for senior year
Extracurriculars (very few, I know)-
Varsity football
National honors society
Varsity track and field
With that out of the way, I’m having trouble deciding which colleges to look at–I live in Nebraska. Should I consider applying to more selective schools, or middle-of-the-road state schools I know I can get full tuition at? Does it matter what school I go to? Are there any schools near or in the Midwest you recommend I look at? As for a possible college major, I am undecided but interested in STEM-related fields. I am also considering med-school.
A few colleges I’m considering:
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (with their Honors Program in mind)
Colorado School of Mines
Iowa State University
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I need to narrow down my extensive college list. Thank you!
Your GPA and ACT will get you in the door anywhere. Your list sounds very reasonable! Colorado School of Mines is awesome for STEM. I would bet on you getting into Iowa State, U Minn., and Nebraska-Lincoln, no sweat. UMich and CO School of Mines look like matches and are probably best for med school preparation as well.
If you want, you can totally apply to a few very selective schools. Yes, your ECs are lacking for an applicant to a tippy-top school, but your GPA, ACT, and heavy sports involvement coupled with being from Nebraska may just get you in.
Best of luck!
Your ECs are good if you can get recruited. Even if you don’t, I have read countless times that it’s better to be heavily involved in a couple of things than have a ton of activities that you barely do. Another consideration is how much your family can afford. Also, do you want big state schools? If you need money then out of state schools that are public only work for you if they have big scholarships for your stats. Otherwise, its cheaper to go to generous private schools.
Thank you for the advice @newkidnewtrix ! And @citymama9 , I’ve mostly been preferring state schools over private schools because of the large sticker prices of private schools. In what situations are private colleges cheaper than public ones? What are some generous private colleges you recommend? My family will be able to afford my college, but I feel like it’s my duty to lower the price as much as possible for them and me. Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your suggestions.
A good place to look is at the Colleges that Change Lives website. Often these schools will give generous financial aid to people with good stats. They tend to be smaller schools in the midwest and south. With merit these schools can come out to less than out of state public schools that don’t have merit. You have great stats that can get you good deals. Also, go to the search feature here and put in’ “schools with generous merit”, and see what you can find.
Rice Universiy, though a little out of your way, gives wonderful aid. Also, the Ivies give some of the best aid in the country.
State schools have higher sticker prices for out of state students, often rivaling private schools. For example, Mines is 51,000 per year out of state versus 32,000 in state (living on campus). However, if the school gives merit aid, your stats should qualify.
Every college must offer a Net Price Calculator to help you estimate your actual cost after financial aid is applied. Run those on your current list, then try Rice. They are strong in STEM and are next to a medical center.
If Nebraska gives merit scholarships for high stats, that may be hard to beat if you decide you’re premed. Premeds need low undergrad costs to save money for med school. It’s seldom worth it for premeds to pay full out of state prices for undergrad.
If you want to look at smaller schools, consider Grinnell and Earlham. Both would offer a very different experience than the large schools on your list. Your family’s income will be a huge determinant of cost, but if they can afford it, as you say, focusing on schools with merit makes sense.
The general advice for possible pre-med students is to minimize undergrad debt (and save as much as possible of current college savings) because med school is all debt, and to go somewhere where you can get research opportunities, shadow physicians, and excel academically.
Some publics, like Alabama, offer great benefits for the high stat kid, with Honors programs and merit awards, and can be great options. Other publics may not offer those scholarships, but are still less expensive than full pay at privates (where cost of attendance is approaching $70,000 a year), such as Minnesota and Wisconsin (cost of attendance for out of state students is under $50,000).
Smaller schools which have strong sciences, but not engineering, may provide close mentoring and merit awards. Grinnell has superb sciences, and does give merit awards, and may be generous with merit with these stats, though hard to know for sure. Oberlin also has strong sciences, with a big focus on sustainability, and gives merit awards but, like Grinnell, hard to predict whether those stats will bring the highest merit awards. Denison has a Bio Reserve for research, and is 30 minutes from Columbus, and does have full tuition merit awards for the highest achieving students (my kid met full tuition award kids at admitted students day and they were choosing between full pay at Stanford/Columbia vs. full tuition merit at Denison).
Did you take the PSAT? Are you likely to be a NMSF/NMF? If so, you will be eligible for many automatic scholarships.
I personally you should put like one or two far reaches on the list just because with your academics and geographical location, you could stand out if your essays/rec’s are really good 
Just research which ones you like based on the program/location/size/culture you’re looking for. Really selective schools often also have great financial aid.
good luck!
@ShrimpBurrito I did take the PSAT, but don’t think I’ll make the semi-finalist cut off. I should be commended, though.
Good luck!!! You’ll do well wherever you’re at!