I don't know where to start

<p>My mom has asked me to create a list of schools to visit, but I don't know even know where to start. Also, any suggestions on what I should do to improve my chances with admissions next year would be greatly appreciated.
Grade:Junior
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Class rank: 1/~100
Classes this year: AP Physics 1, AP US, jazz band honors, Spanish 4 honors, AP Lang, AP Chem, Pre Calc honors
Previous AP classes: Human Geography (4), Music theory (4)
ECs:
Field Hockey (5yrs, 2 varsity)
Lacrosse (by end of yr will be 3yrs, 3 varsity)
Key Club (3yrs)
NHS (1yr)
Jazz band (3yrs)
Youth symphony (4yrs, quit after last year due to it being too easy)
Town band (in summer 4yrs, excluding this summer due to work conflict)
Work:
Local clothing store
Lifeguard</p>

<p>I honestly have no clue for a major. My favorite class by far was human geography, and I love history. I'm a great writer, and just love learning in general. I'm looking at top schools but don't know if I have a chance, or if there's anything I could do now to improve my chances. Any suggestions on leadership positions, volunteer work, or summer programs I should try out?
Sorry for the length, any help is appreciated.</p>

<p>Start by getting a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges and identifying some colleges that sound interesting to you. Work with your parents to run the net price calculators for some of them to see what kind of cost of attendance you are likely to have. </p>

<p>However, without standardized test scores (ACT or SAT), it is going to be hard to figure out what schools will be reaches vs. matches vs. safeties. So you need to get started on that testing. It is actually a good idea to try to wrap up your testing junior year anyway so you have a good idea of your scores going into fall of senior year when you need to start applications. You hopefully will have PSAT scores soon if you took it this fall, that could give you an idea of your possible SAT scores.</p>

<p>You might try going to a few different types of colleges near your home for visits to start with. Go to your flagship state university, and maybe a couple of different sized private universities (try a liberal arts college and maybe a larger college). See what you think about those atmospheres, and it might help you figure out more schools to look at. </p>

<p>What state are you in?</p>

<p>I will not be able to get any financial aid, and my parents have not agreed yet on how much money they will be willing to pay. They’ll probably pay up to about 35,000 a year and leave the rest for me. I’m going to start with all my testing in January and hopefully will be finished by June, I have the test dates planned out.</p>

<p>I live in Massachusetts </p>

<p>You mentioned you like writing, University of Maryland has a great journalism program and the campus is so nice, clean, and safe. Also there is alot to do down in maryland and the weather isn’t that bad. You should try looking into some journalism schools.</p>

<p>You may get some merit aid, depending on how your test scores end up and what schools you apply to. Generally the higher ranked the school, the less merit aid available, and if there is any then the more competitive it is to get it.</p>

<p>I just looked up my PSAT from sophomore year, and I got a 173. Is this on the right track for merit scholarships? I didn’t study at all, and got a low score in math due to just not knowing a lot of the material. I think I did considerably better this year but I won’t know until the scores are out. </p>

<p>My best friend’s mother is a journalist and has actually told me and her older daughter that she didn’t think it would be a good fit for us. Her older daughter is majoring in communications, does that seem like it would fit for me? </p>

<p><<<<
They’ll probably pay up to about 35,000 a year and leave the rest for me.
<<<<</p>

<p>You need to ask BOTH parents how much they’ll pay (to make sure all is in agreement).</p>

<p>They can’t just “leave the rest” to you. YOU can only borrow $5,500 for freshman year…and your parents need to KNOW THAT so that they aren’t thinking that they can pay $35k and you can borrow the other $20k per year for a private. YOU can only borrow $5,500 as a freshman.</p>

<p>They will pay for anything but I will owe them anything over the amount they decide. So I won’t be taking out loans, but I’ll still owe the money to my parents. I hope that makes sense.</p>

<p>The Insider’s Guide to Colleges is another good book to get to know the personalities and the types of people that go to different colleges. There are plenty of great schools in Massachusetts, just plan some good weekend trips to a few places nearby and start there. Do it preferably when school is still is in session so you get a feel of each school. Then you can understand if you like small school, big schools, urban, suburban, ect. You don’t necessarily have to have a preference but it helps in narrowing down your choices. </p>

<p>Also, if your parents can only contribute 35K a year, look up schools where you can get merit scholarships or the cost is low enough that you can afford it. There is a great forum on the financial aid pin for places to start. UMass also has some good options. As for leadership positions, take on bigger roles in clubs and sports that you are already a part of. Be charismatic and proactive. By the end of it all, peope will know your name and you may be a good candidate for taking on those additional responsibilities.</p>

<p>My parents can contribute way more, but at the moment they’re choosing not to, which leaves me stuck since I won’t qualify for financial aid. The problem is none of the schools in that price range are even remotely close to something I’d want. My dad refuses to let me go to UMass, he went there for a while and says that I’d be wasting my potential there. Plus, all my friends that go there are huge partiers, and that doesn’t fit what I want either. As for the leadership, the problem isn’t that people don’t know me, it’s that all the positions are for seniors in the groups that I’m in. Will it look bad though that I don’t have anything for this year? Thanks for the suggestions </p>

<p>You said you liked geography and history. Please look up Jared Diamond, UCLA, his books, articles, videos, etc. as an idea for a major.</p>

<p>Getting a baseline of standardized test scores is going to help you understand whether you can get admitted to top colleges. Your PSAT score is not very high. If you multiply your PSAT score by 10 it provides a reasonable estimate of your SAT. An impressive PSAT is in the 210 - 220 range. Not knowing what major interests you is fairly common particularly junior year. Broadly, does science and math interest you or more English, history or social sciences? Visiting colleges will help you figure out whether a big school or small school is what you are looking for and technology school or liberal arts. Living in Mass you have a ton of great colleges close by. Some colleges give generous merit aid - Vanderbilt, case western, wash u. , Illinois Wesleyan. Generally speaking to get the most merit aid you need to be a very strong student for a given college. Your course rigor and class standing are on track but you need to figure out if you are a 2200 SAT / 33 ACT or not. I would not agonize about knowing what major you are interested in. Figure out how selective a college and broadly whether tech (MIT) or liberal arts (Amherst) fit you. If you want to get a flavor of what different types of colleges are like, visit Williams (liberal arts) and either MIT or Franklin W Olin (engineering / tech). None of the ivies or very top liberal arid colleges will offer merit aid so if this is important you will need to look at the next tier of colleges. </p>

<p>It is reasonable for your parents not to pay more than 35k, after all that is a lot of money. But it is not reasonable to then deny you your state flagship or force you to go into debt to them. You will have to talk to them about that stance. If they insist on it you can always ‘borrow’ the money now and just not pay them back later, I suppose.</p>

<p>Anyway, it is a given that you should apply to your affordable flagship so that the option is available should other colleges not pan out with acceptances and the merit aid you need. So I would put on the table for your first visit and tour to be UMass Amherst. Also tour the new honors college which has a residential community, something your father might not be familiar with.
<a href=“https://www.honors.umass.edu/”>https://www.honors.umass.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>While you are in town you might want to look at Amherst and Hampshire for a taste of a couple different colleges on a small scale. You might have access to BU to see what that is like. Get a feel for a few different ones locally, then when you have a better idea of what is feasible with your scores you can have targets farther away and it will be worth visiting them. </p>

<p>Your psat (and most people do not study for that) puts you on track for around 2000 SAT. So you might want to do some prep as it will help you to get your M and CR scores up for looking for merit aid. Aside from merit you can also look at more affordable OOS state schools. There is a list pinned in the info threads at the top of the financial aid forum. Some of the SUNYs might work for your budget. Depending on your scores some of the auto merit colleges should work, but many won’t be as nice as UMass.</p>

<p>Big state schools house a wide range of students. Some barely got in and others are the top of their state. That’s how it works. Some will party all the time and maybe drop out. Some will work hard, play hard. Some will be more like honors students and take all the ample opportunities that a college like UMass has and maybe they might even enjoy some parties some times. </p>

<p>Finally, you are in your Jr year. Colleges will look at your profile to see if you are pushing yourself academically, deepening intellectual engagement and developing excellence in what you do and a point of view in how you spend your time. You are not going to join one club and suddenly your profile looks different to them. </p>