Hi, I am a sophomore in high school and I know it might be a little early to be looking into college; however my counselor has brought it to my attention and I have always liked to plan ahead. The frustrating part is that whenever I try one of the college search tools they pair me up with Ivies or other top school. I feel like this seems like a bit of a stretch and would like to just see some more tangible options.
Stats
White female
GPA: 3.8 (will probably be a 3.9 by next year)
ACT: projected to get a 32+
PSAT: 178 (this was with no prep and was really low. I will study and probably take a prep class for next year when it really matters)
APs: AP Euro this year, Junior year: AP English Lit and Composition, APUSH, AP Physics B, AP Chemistry, Senior year: AP English Language and Composition, AP Biology, AP Comparative Government, AP Psychology, AP BC Calculus and AP Computer Science.
I have been on JV volleyball for the past two years, have 100+ hours of tutoring, 100+ hours volunteering at the hospital and have an internship there. I am hopefully going to attend the Boston Leadership Academy Research Internship this summer (I haven’t received a responce to my application yet).
I am really interested in research so that would be important for a college.
Also, I really would like it to be in the Midwest or on the East Coast.
If anyone could inform me of a good college that would be much appreciated.
You can’t select a college in a vacuum. How much can your parents afford and what are YOU looking for? These are the two most important questions. If finances are an issues begin looking at schools with significant scholarship opportunities (your 32+ and 3.9 GPA will qualify you for good scholarships in lots of schools). If you are interested in particular majors, especially specialized ones (film, art, journalism, engineering, etc), that also will narrow the school list. The type of school MIGHT be important (less so, I think - you can always finds a small group of like-minded people, even in very large universities).
It is nice to think ahead but you need to get some things in place such as 1) standardized test score 2) any parental restrictions such as price, location and anything else 3) if you have any ideas of what you want to study (ex. do you only want a school with a business, nursing etc. program) before you start targeting specific schools.
For now if you want to think ahead (although I’d wait until next year) I’d try to get my hands on a college guide book (I like Fiske and Princeton Review but there are many other good ones) and start reading about different types of schools that match your academic stats. Think about what environment you might like such as size of school, geographic location, if it is urban/rural/ suburban, religious affiliation etc. (and again, that can change in the next couple of years) so when you actually do start to look at schools you can try to see some different types so you get an idea of what type of size/environment you prefer.