<p>I'm beginning my senior year of high school in under two weeks, and I seem to be having a great deal of difficulty when it comes to choosing the college that best suits my needs. My efforts to thoroughly search website after website for honest, raw opinions on each school I've taken a liking to usually leave me disappointed, for it seems as though there is always some reason for someone to dislike each school. Another problem I've encountered is that, coming from a low-income family, the prices for each school seem much less than feasible. I can't imagine being able to afford school at these costs. </p>
<p>For a while now, I've been almost sure that Syracuse University was where I wanted to go. It seems to have a very nice campus, plenty of majors to choose from, and my dad's a fan of the school because his father graduated from there quite some time ago. Unfortunately, money becomes a problem here. Syracuse is very expensive, and I'm afraid that any financial aid I receive will not be enough. I've been hoping that my grades could also earn me some money as well, for I have a high GPA, a high class rank (only out of about 112 students though in a very small high school in southern New Jersey), fairly good extra curriculars (including officer positions in NHS and Key Club), 100+ volunteer hours at the local assisted living home, and by the end of senior year will have taken five out of the seven AP courses my high school has to offer and plenty of honors classes as well. As far as academics go though, my downfall is my SAT/ACT scores. On the ACTs, my overall score was merely a 26, and after my second shot at the SATs, I managed to score an 1810 (CR: 600, W: 630, M: 580). From what I've read, these scores are not nearly impressive enough to enroll me into a good pre-medical course. I've been bulking up on so many science and math courses offered by my high school though.</p>
<p>Social life worries me a bit too. So far through high school, I've had only two very close friends and kept pretty much to myself. I'm known for being rather quiet, but I'm open to talking to people if the opportunity is presented. No one I've met though really shares my interests in Doctor Who, school, and reading, so I'm nervous that I won't find anyone to connect with once I go away to college either.</p>
<p>Basically (brevity is obviously not my niche--sorry), besides Syracuse, I've looked into the University of Vermont, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Boston University. I'm hoping to enter a pre-medical program while majoring in Geology/Earth Science, and I'm looking for a school where I won't be overwhelmed by Greek Life (I don't drink or party), where I will succeed academically, with a good faculty, and ultimately somewhere that will set me up for a promising future. I can't decide which school is best for these things, so any opinions, advice, or school suggestions are more than welcome.</p>