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<p>yeah, apply everywhere you want because you are in the top 5%. </p>
<p>Its amazing how you have a 3.6 UW GPA and you are still in the top 5%.</p>
<p>coolsverne: apply for Questbridge. The link has been given above.
The program is selective - it is reserved for gifted individuals from communities where few students go to top colleges: Questbridge helps these students find colleges for them and helps colleges find these gifted students. You seem to fit <em>all</em> their criteria. If you get in they’ll help you get into one of the nation’s top colleges WITH 100% FINANCIAL AID. (Not all colleges cover your financial need. Many do by offering loans.)
In ANY case, even without QuestBridge, apply to Harvard, Yale, Princeton = their financial aid will be without loans (super important), with a stipend for books, a computer, and a return trip home. Outside these three, which are unpredictable for anyone, considering your financial circumstances, you want to look at colleges that meet 100% need and offer excellent need-based aid packages (without loans as much as possible) - all while having 70+% graduation rates.
You’d probably be a shoo-in at Morehouse so definitively apply. Finally, apply to any from the top Liberal Arts Colleges.
As for now, express interest. Go to their website and click on “request info” or “join our mailing list”. Give the same info you gave us here. You should get emails from the different colleges fairly quickly.
Look at the blog “the college solution” and don’t hesitate to ask your questions in the comments section. The answers are all practical and wise. :)</p>
<p>Colleges look at scores and GPA’s in context. If everyone around you has been schooled to score 2100, your 1900 isn’t that impressive. If everyone around you scores 1500, your 1900 definitively is. Therefore by this measure, <em>your</em> score would floor most admission officers.</p>
<p>If your high school is still in session get the paperwork done so that you have fee waivers for all your college applications. (Go to the Parents Forum section and ask for details there, there’s even a thread with practical advice about helping a first-generation student.)
Look at the new prompts for the Common Application (if your counselor hasn’t given them to you) so you can work on them over the summer.</p>
<p>Have you read “A hope in the unseen”? It’s about a remarkable young man who stands out in his community and wants an Ivy League education - the true story from his junior year in high school up to his sophomore year in college, with an update on what’s happened to him since he graduated.
Finally, read Leobardo Espinoza’s blog: he’s a first generation student who chronicled his senior year and college quest with all its ups and downs for the NYT.
[Leobardo</a> Espinoza Jr. - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/author/leobardo-espinoza-jr/]Leobardo”>Leobardo Espinoza Jr. - The Choice Blog - The New York Times)</p>
<p>XtremePower–I go to a pretty terrible high school (I’m pretty sure one of the worst in TX)
Thanks for all the info, MYOS1634 and BrownParent</p>
<p>I agree with the advice in #22. DEFINITELY apply for Questbridge! Definitely apply to deep pockets schools where if they accept you they will give you real $$. You may well have to take out some modest loans over the four years, but they are likely to to be subsidized Perkins loans. You may also do work-study, but in college that is normally a painless, on-campus, 10-hr-wk job.</p>
<p>The one thing I would add is that you do not mention SATIIs. It is likely that some of the schools you would be applying to will want them. I would strongly consider picking a couple of subjects you did well in this year, prepping over the summer, and taking them in the early fall. Quite possibly a better use of your time than taking the ACT, given your SAT scores.</p>
<p>As well as the Questbridge schools, consider applying to UNC Chapel Hill, which meets full need as well as has a social/academic support for first generation students.</p>
<p>Here’s a list of books that are about first-generation students:
[Books</a> about First-Generation College Students (16 books)](<a href=“Books about First-Generation College Students (46 books)”>Books about First-Generation College Students (46 books))
My favorite remains A hope in the unseen 
Another one, not on the list, is Make Lemonade by V. Euwer.
I don’t know whether your high school assigns summer reading, but this is what other high schools assign, per grade:
[Summer</a> Ready: Get Reading with These Top Books for Summer 2013 | First Generation Student](<a href=“http://www.firstgenerationstudent.com/blog/summer-reading-list-top-books-for-2013/]Summer”>http://www.firstgenerationstudent.com/blog/summer-reading-list-top-books-for-2013/)
I highly recommend this website to complement your overworked high school counselor:
[FirstGenerationStudent.com</a> | Help for First-Gen College Students](<a href=“http://www.firstgenerationstudent.com/]FirstGenerationStudent.com”>http://www.firstgenerationstudent.com/)
These audio/slideshows with real first generation college students are also very interesting:
[url=<a href=“http://www.firstinthefamily.org/collegeyears/index.html]index[/url”>http://www.firstinthefamily.org/collegeyears/index.html]index[/url</a>]</p>