Need college advice for B student (Bio/music)

<p>I'm currently finishing Junior year.
GPA W/UW: 3.91/3.04
SAT (taken once): 1770 (610 Math, 610 Writing, 550 Reading, 8 Essay) I'm retaking in the fall after I prep.
Our school doesn't do class rank.</p>

<p>Should I list my classes? Let me know and I will.</p>

<p>My freshman and sophomore year I took all honors classes and I did okay (4.33/3.33), but my sophomore year was really tough (3.6/2.6). Junior year I took regular math and history and improved from sophomore year (3.8/3.2). I go to a very reputable school that's known as an ivy feeders in our area. </p>

<p>EC:
8 years of taking flute lessons
3 (going into 4) years of Settlement music school on Saturdays playing in chamber music
groups
1 year (may be 2 next year) outside of school youth orchestra (audition required)
1 year Foreign Language club
1 year of Volunteer club
1 year JV Volleyball </p>

<p>I speak Cantonese fluently, if that would help at all.. since my mom is Chinese (dad is Armenian).</p>

<p>I'm looking for good schools in bio and also music (performance) if possible, but also relatively cheap. I'm looking to go into optometry in grad school, so I'm trying to save as much money as possible. However, I'm an only child in a higher middle-class family, so I can spend a little more than "minimum", you know? My dad used a financial aid calculator and it seems like we're not getting any.</p>

<p>I know my grades aren't the best, but is there any way I could get merit scholarships? Or are those usually given to solely top of the class people?</p>

<p>So far I have on my list:
Temple, Penn State (could I get into University Park?), UPitt</p>

<p>I'm kinda 50/50 on staying on the east coast or not. If there's cheap/good options on the west coast, I'll consider those too. I'm kinda scared of going to a giant school though.. like temple and psu. Any suggestions for target/reach/safety? I'd prefer if it was in more of a city or urban area too.</p>

<p>Thanks sooo much in advance =) Let me know if you need more information.</p>

<p>University of Indiana is known for its music graduate school but the undergrad may also have some good opportunities. The tuition for out-of-state students isn’t bad (i.e. less than a private school). You might check on CC in the music major thread for ideas depending how important the music part is to you. Maybe look into Bard.</p>