I have absolutely no idea what colleges to apply to. so lost.

<p>i'm currently a junior but i don't think anything major is going to change between now and when i start applying for college. can someone tell me what colleges i should be looking at?
Stats
3.5 gpa-unweighted (it's currently a 3.44 but i'm certain it will be 3.5 by the end of the year)
2330 sat (800 M, 800 W, 730 R)
221 psat (idk if im a finalist yet, but i doubt it 'cause of my low gpa)
ACT- taking in about a month. probably in the low 30's.</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars
quizbowl-4 years (sophomore-historian, junior-vp, senior-president) went to nationals
robotics-2 years (greatly contributed to winning the state chairmans award and qualifying for worlds)
qualified for the MMPC top 1000 math competition 3 years.
Field Hockey-2 years JV, 1 Varsity
Attended an all girls science summer camp before sophomore year at Smith College. (not that great or anything)
my teacher reccomendations will be pretty good, i think.</p>

<p>explanation for low gpa: i'm just bad at school. i took a crazy hard schedule my sophomore year and got straight B's. my freshmen year i took calculus ab, and ended up with a B both semesters. my sophomore year, i took ap euro, ap chem, and calc bc. i barely managed to get B's in all of them (although i did get B's in the "easy" classes as well). now, my junior year, i'm only taking 2 ap's. ap statistics and ap biology. so in total, i've taken 6 AP's.</p>

<p>so what colleges should i be looking to apply to? my test scores are high, but my gpa sucks. What are my chances for University Of Michigan (in state), and Rice? those are my top 2. also, i'm and indian female if that makes a difference. I applied for a summer program at u of m as well. waiting to hear if I got in.</p>

<p>aside from those 2, I don't know where I would apply to. what would be some decent safety schools?</p>

<p>GPA is low but that SAT score is extremely high. </p>

<p>Rice : Reach(its reach for everyone)
University of Michigan: Reach
Michigan State University: Safety
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign: Match
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Low Match
Pennsylvania State University: Low Match
Ohio State University: Low Match
Virginia Tech: Low Match
Georgia Tech: Match</p>

<p>What is your intended major ?</p>

<p>I really doubt a 3.5 will knock you out of NMF. You are well ahead in math. Mich State is a good suggestion. What can your family afford? That is a major element in finding safety schools (if you can’t afford it then it’s not a safety but a waste of application fees).</p>

<p>Michigan State would most likely be a safety. You might be able to get into UMich. You might want to try University of Pittsburgh. With your SAT scores you might be eligible for a scholarship.</p>

<p>You need to think about what you can afford to pay, especially at out of state flagships.</p>

<p>For lower cost safeties, there are the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-16.html#post15557250&lt;/a&gt; .</p>

<p>You need to talk to your parents to find out how much they are willing to contribute, and to get information for the net price calculators on the college web sites.</p>

<p>are you a minority? do you have a specific area of the county you want to stay in?</p>

<p>Admission to the University of Michigan is getting quite tough even for in-state students. You may want to look over their admissions process, it is quite well written.</p>

<p>[How</a> We Evaluate Your Application | University of Michigan Office of Admissions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/drupal/how-we-evaluate-your-application]How”>http://www.admissions.umich.edu/drupal/how-we-evaluate-your-application)</p>

<p>Michigan State is an admissions safety, however, not sure if they would give you sufficient scholarship to categorize it as a financial safety. With your very high SAT scores, you are likely to be invited for a day long Alumni Distinguished Scholarship competition. Scholarships are awarded based on one’s performance. </p>

<p>[Academic</a> Merit Scholarships | Michigan State University Office of Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/scholarships_merit.asp]Academic”>http://admissions.msu.edu/finances/scholarships_merit.asp)</p>

<p>With a PSAT score of 221, you are highly likely to be selected as National Merit Finalist. It opens up additional scholarship opportunities, which will be in addition to automatic full rides, referred earlier by UCBAlumnus.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/136920-full-rides-national-merit-finalists-scholars-22.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/136920-full-rides-national-merit-finalists-scholars-22.html&lt;/a&gt;
(refer to post 318)</p>

<p>Another admission safety would be Case Western.</p>

<p>With the rigor of your coursework and your SAT scores, you have the possibility of being admitted to some of the more rigorous schools; note all these colleges will be a reach.
Do get their Net Price to see if your family can afford them.</p>

<ol>
<li>Chicago</li>
<li>Welleseley (women only), [privilege to cross register for classes at MIT, Babson, Brandeis, Olin]</li>
<li>Barnard (women only) [can cross register for classes at Columbia]</li>
<li>Emory</li>
<li>Carleton</li>
<li>Swarthmore</li>
</ol>

<p>SAT12399, What is your intended major?</p>