I am personally okay with getting into like a state college, but my Asian parents would disown me if I don’t get into a top 30 college. So yeah. Any suggestions are welcome!
No they won’t.
Anyway, it’s too early to focus on specific colleges. But I will refer you to a post from my colleague @happy1 with some suggestions for you:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22012265/#Comment_22012265
Learn how to study in a way that works for you.
Learn how to take good notes.
Learn how to manage stress and practice self-care.
Try a ton of different extracurriculars - basically, with involved in anything that you find interesting, and at the end of your freshman year choose a few things that you like enough to stick with for 4 years.
It’s too early to create a rigid college list, but look up different colleges (maybe even do a campus visit or two, if you live near some schools) and try to figure out what aspects you want most in a college experience (size? urban, suburban, or rural? weather? Greek life? study abroad? et cetera).
Keep up your GPA. Your freshman year classes will likely be easier than your sophomore/junior/senior classes, and upperclassman you will regret it if you slack off and don’t do your best freshman year (unless you’re applying to UC’s, but even so.)
And, as has already been said: no, your parents won’t disown you if you don’t go to a T30. Especially not if you live in a state where your state schools give a ton of merit aid to high-achieving students.
Monitor how you are doing in your class. Let us say you get a C on your first Math test. That shows that you didn’t understand all the material, and were unaware you didn’t understand all the material.
So you need to change what you do…make sure you read the chapter in the text book. Do all the problems in the chapters. Maybe get an extra practice problem book and practice more. Maybe get a tutor. Maybe go to teacher help sessions.