<p>Have you taken the PSAT? Doing above average on the junior-year PSAT could lead to you getting National Merit/Acheivement, which would help schools like USC become less of a reach.</p>
<p>Out-of-state at various other state “flagships” (the best/better known schools from a state’s public university system) are generally not that hard to get into if they a good amount of spaces for OOS students. Florida State can be hard to get into OOS, as is UW-Seattle (part of this is because they only let so many OOS students in at FSU). </p>
<p>As for the rest of those schools, to my knowledge, they’d be matches for you, if you make a 4.0 for the next two years (an upward trend in grades could help you some) and make an SAT of 1700 or higher, depending on the school. Junior year grades can be the most important, so work hard! Also, see if there is a school club or community service intiative that interests you. </p>
<p>You seem to be taking a fair number of classes that explore certain “vocational” subjects (subjects that translate directly into a career path someone might take ex. Culinary Arts = chef, TV Production = TV producer). Do any of those correlate to an interest you want to explore outside the classroom?</p>
<p>Playing a varsity sport for 3 years is a great thing and a great accomplishment, but basketball is only one season of the year - colleges want to see that you were active in your school and community during the other months, too! For example, University of Arizona leaves space on their application for you to write in your activities, and another area to write in the activities you did over the summer! They may also have varsity sports in their own section, so make sure that you have some interests that you can show commitment and passion for in the (non-sport) activities sections!</p>