I’m looking for universities that would be a good fit for me. I want to be a doctor, so I’ll get an undergrad in biology or pre- med. I’m looking for an out of state school that will most likely offer financial aid.
I am a sophomore in high school from Oregon. I have a 3.8 GPA. I take honors classes right now and will take AP classes next year ( AP History, AP Pre Calc, AP Biology ). I haven’t taken the SAT/ACT yet, but I will be taking the SAT next month. I am a member of National Honor Society. I was the freshman class president. I am the treasurer my FFA chapter. I was selected to go to a leadership conference in Washington D.C. this summer for FFA. I participated in the county fair for two years. I have been doing ballet since I was four years old and I dance at an academy now. I am very involved in my church. I do two hours of community service every week and have helped teach Religious Education to first graders for three years at my church. I have also altar served for about seven years. I am confirmed Catholic. I babysit occasionally and snowboard in my free time. Finally, I don’t know if this matters but I come from a middle class family with a lower income. Some of the schools I’ve looked into are University of Notre Dame, Boston University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of California at San Diego.
UC San Diego does not give financial aid to out of state students, so you would be expected to pay around $60K/year to attend.
You have all OOS schools on your list so far, so if you are in-need of financial aid to make these school affordable, you need to have tippy top stats.
Each school has a net price calculator (NPC) on their website. Run the NPC’s for all the schools of interest, take the information to your parents and see if they are an affordable option. No point in applying to schools you cannot afford to attend.
Start making a list from the bottom up. Pick 1-2 safety schools, usually your in-state schools. These need to be affordable, you have a high chance for an acceptance and you are willing to attend. From their, expand your list and look for schools that will give you good need-based and/or merit aid.
Thanks so much!
Don’t box yourself in this early. It’s not worth it making a college list in sophomore year (I made one, and it has changed so much since then). Even if you do want to be a doctor, don’t get so hung up on the majoring in biology thing (made that mistake too). Take high school and find out what you love, then you’ll see what matters to you in a school. One thing you could do is to get familiar with financial aid policies, as well as keeping in mind what you want in a school (ie. do I like sports/sporty culture? am I a big school or small school type of person? do I value the flexibility of not having to decide what I want to major in right now?).
Sidenote: look at Boston College
Do you want to continue dancing in college? There are lots of threads here about schools that are strong in STEM and have ballet, either as a major/minor or as an extracurricular. It might give you a place to start.
No I don’t want to dance in college. Thank you all 
As mentioned, any OOS public schools are going to have a cap on merit aid for OOS students and it won’t be much compared to the costs for an OOS student. You would be better off looking at Oregon public’s like UO, who would give you good merit money, but if you want to get out of your state, then check out private schools who tend to give (good) merit aid (varies by school). The Jesuit and Catholic schools typically aren’t overly religious and welcome anybody - so LMU, SCU, Fordham, Seattle University, Gonzaga to name a few (and there are others). USD and Pepperdine come off more religious, USD by architecture and Pepperdine, cause, well, they are there. USC is highly competitive/selective, but holistic so results can vary depending on what they are looking for, but gpa and test schools still very important. Most posters on here seem to be east coasters and can certainly name schools on that side of the country that I am not as familiar with. Someone is bound to mention Alabama!
But the suggestions you have so far from @oPhilippos and @gumbymom are good ones. Think about what kind of schools you want to go to - big v. small, urban v. rural, spirit v. no sports, certain parts of the country that you want to experience v. places you wouldn’t want to ever live. These parameters will help you come up with a list. Invest in a book like Fiske Guide to Colleges and/or The Best 380 Colleges - excellent resources - and start reading (easier than googling all over the place). Also, the comment about majors is good - do some research on options. Bio is great if you are 100% sure you will be a doctor and get into med school. If not, bio can be limiting career wise. Might be other majors that meet the requirements for mcat but give you more options if you go another direction, and most going into college thinking they will be doctors, do end up taking a different turn along the way.
<<< so I’ll get an undergrad in biology or pre- med.>>>
At 99.9% of univs, there’s no such thing as a degree in premed.
A premed student can major in anything…anything…even Dance if desired…but they must include the premed prereqs.
Talk to your parents about how much they’ll pay for college. (Edit, I see that you’re lower income)
To get into med school, you’ll want a very HIGH college GPA and strong MCAT score. Many premeds make the huge mistake of attending a college where their stats aren’t very high for the school. Their premed classmates are stronger than they are, and those kids end up with the A’s.
<<<
but I come from a middle class family with a lower income.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
Then you’ll need to find schools that “meet need”. Do you have a non-custodial parent?