<p>OK so I still have plenty of time to decide where I want to go to college but I've started thinking about it and I'm completely overwhelmed by the number of choices.
Here are some of my stats and things about me:
-I keep a 3.85 or 4.0 in my schools hardest classes, I'm going into the IB program next year.
-I play field hockey, volunteer, and participate in a few other clubs at my school
-Based on my PSATS I should be able to break a 2000 or 2100 on my SAT's.
-I have parents who went to Yale and Standford
-I'm very studious but a little shy</p>
<p>Here is what I'm looking for:
-An East Coast school in a more urban environment
-I'm interested in foreign language, political science, and history
-Money isn't too much of a problem
-I don't care to much about the size of a school
-Academics are most important to me.</p>
<p>Sorry if I'm being too general with my info.</p>
<p>Yale sounds good to me. Apply EA if you like the school. As a legacy with good statistics and some ecs, you have a great shot if you write solid essays.</p>
<p>You sound as though Tufts would be a great school for you. International Relations is one of Tufts' strongest fields, and it's an academic sort of school right outside Boston, with easy access to the city.</p>
<p>You might also want to take a look at Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Northwestern. Three different cities, three different sorts of schools. And if you're a girl, what about Wellesley?</p>
<p>I also thought of Tufts immediately, and it would probably be a good match. NYU and Columbia could also be good choices if you are considering NYC.</p>
<p>you need more advice than you're going to get from people throwing out names, and all those names are going to come from the same bucket of 75 or so schools that everyone talks about. </p>
<p>You have plenty of time, so start by becoming an informed applicant. Start by reading a good book on admissions, such as "Admission Matters". I'd also recommend as a 2nd book any of the ones by Pope such as "Schools That Change Lives"; he has a small-school bias but points out many valid things about what you'll encounter in college. And then start visiting to see first-hand how what you've learned from the books works in practice. Even though you write school size doesn't matter, I'd bet you don't have much first-hand experience with colleges of various sizes; many kids who start off saying what you do find they DO have definite preferences once they start visiting.</p>
<p>Stroll around a several colleges near where you live (even if you'll never even apply to them), just to get a feel for the types of differences there can be among schools with regards to things such as atmosphere, attitude, political bent, pace, etc.</p>