<p>@ucbalumnus thanks a lot for your help. I’d never really heard of Howard much (or at all) before and it now looks like I college I should seriously consider. And I should most likely get national merit semi finalist (my PSAT score is well above the cutoff) and hopefully finalist (do most semi finalists get finalist; I’ve heard conflicting things on this?). I’ve heard this does help to upon up doors. Thanks a lot for your help.</p>