<p>OP, when I try to imagine how your parents might look at this, I conjure up a vision of parents who are very proud of their daughter and want to give her as much leeway as possible in the choice of college–but who find themselves recoiling in horror when they discover that their expected contribution is going to be very difficult to meet.</p>
<p>Some schools you haven’t mentioned give merit scholarships, have good research programs, have medical colleges on campus and even have neurobiology programs: three come to mind off the top of my head: Rice, WashU (St. Louis) and Vanderbilt (there are more). However, I do not think you will be a good candidate for the top scholarships IF you do not finish high school. Sure, you are signed up for a bunch of AP courses this year, but no one knows for sure how well you will do. You need some more SAT II scores, as someone mentioned above.</p>
<p>Your ethnicity and your geographical location will be far more likely to help than hinder you at the schools I mentioned above, also.</p>