If the OP has financial need, they likely would do better at all those except maybe NYU, which has notoriously poor need based aid. OP, do you know your family income?
@intparent @socaldad2002 I also heard that about NYU. I do know my family income but I’d rather not share it. My family’s income is a bit on the high end but between NYC living expenses (very, very high), private school tuition (which I get financial aid for but we still contribute quite a bit), and saving to buy a house, we definitely can’t pay it all.
Also, I’m a she. 
@AzolesRale , ask your parents to run the Net Price Calculators for Brown, Northwestern, Northeastern and NYU. (Here is Brown’s to start with: https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/brown ) This will show what your family would be expected to pay, based on their financial info and the college’s formula.
Look especially at Brown and Northwestern to begin with, as these are examples of big-endowment schools with generous financial aid. If the cost that the NPC shows is within range for what your family can actually pay, then you’ll know that this whole category of full-need-met schools should be financially accessible to you. If the NPC comes up with a figure that your family, in real life, cannot pay (or would strongly prefer not to!), then you’ll want to focus your search more on schools with generous merit aid.
NYU has a reputation for being stingy with financial aid. No harm in applying, but make sure you’re prepared to walk away if the numbers aren’t good in the end.
Northeastern is a tricky one. They theoretically meet full need, but their formula isn’t generous and they aren’t a no-loan school. They also have some good merit opportunities… but that’s “good” in the sense of discounting the sticker price by <50% (which is a good value for otherwise full-pay families), not “full ride” type merit aid. The Ujima Scholars program, for example, entails a $15K/year merit scholarship… but if you’re eligible for any significant amount of need-based aid, that won’t materially change your financial aid package, as it will just replace grant aid that you would have gotten anyway. There are multiple stories on CC of students who have obtained outside scholarships only to have NU reduce their grant aid by the same amount and leave the loans in place. There’s no rule that says they can’t do this, but it’s a stingy practice, IMHO, to swallow scholarship money a student has earned and not even reduce their debt. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great school if the money aspect works out in your particular case… just be cautious and pragmatic, and don’t end up being tempted to overpay because you are In Love with the school.
But anyway, the first and most crucial question to answer is whether your Expected Family Contribution actually matches what your family can pay. That’s a fundamental fork in the college-search decision tree, so start there.
The good news is that you have excellent in-state options in NY. Have you visited SUNY Binghamton? Given your grades and PSAT score, you should have no worries about being able to go there, so it would be good to see it to set an in-state baseline against which you can measure your other options.
Congrats on the PSAT - that’s a terrific “cold” score for a sophomore. 1340 is 94th percentile for juniors, and close to 99th for sophomores. (1360 is the 99th percentile mark for sophomores). Seems like you will be in fine shape, standardized testing wise!
If you come back with an answer to the “Can you pay your EFC?” question, then folks here will be able to make the right kind of suggestions.
@aquapt I don’t have all my family’s financial information, but I’m going to sit down with them and check the EFC tonight. Thank you so much! I’m hoping to get outside scholarships as well. That’s too bad about Northeastern. The practice does sound incredibly stingy. However, Brown and Northwestern sound promising. Seriously, thank you so much. I understand my financial aid prospects a lot more thanks to you.
I haven’t visited SUNY Binghamton, but I’m happy to know there’s a good in-state option for me. I’m going to check out the others too. My dad went to SUNY New Paltz.
I’m pretty happy about my first PSAT score. I’m studying as much as possible because I want to be a National Merit Scholar. I have quite a bit of progress to make to have a competitive score, but I have a good start!
I’ll be sure to post when I figure out whether I can pay my EFC!
Boy your school is doing a great job and obviously you’re a smart kid too!
You convey your thoughts in a concise and easy to understand manner.
I think with your scores and future exams coupled with an ability to convey your interests in writing, you will have lots of great options.
You have the brains, the talent, the sophistication of NY student, the guidance department advantages of most boarding schools and the power of diversity on your side.
Focus on your grades. Prep for act and sat in
a meaningful way. And enjoy your time in your ecs.
And also please add Boston College to your list.
@privatebanker Wow, thank you so much! I really appreciate that! I’m working really hard to make the most of my high school years. The vote of confidence about my college admission prospects is very encouraging. I’ll definitely look into Boston College!
Considering that you haven’t taken the PSAT or any standardized tests, it would be hard to select schools for you. It’s nice that you are ahead of many others in the thought process; however, don’t let yourself be stressed out about college yet. Just continue to get good grades and build your extracurriculars!
Remove the word “prestige” from your vocabulary and look at schools based on affordability. Start with in-state and scholarships. From there, you can add some reach schools, and an “exotic” school or two. If you get too exotic with your list, you either get a list of rejections, or a list of acceptances to schools you can’t afford. You’ll be surprised how many smart kids end up spending their first semester at community college because of that.
@coolguy40 “Remove the word “prestige” from your vocabulary and look at schools based on affordability. Start with in-state and scholarships. From there, you can add some reach schools, and an “exotic” school or two”
I would not use the word “exotic” (foreign, striking, mysterious, etc.) to describe US based colleges. Maybe you replace “prestige” with “great academic reputation” or “well regarded” colleges?
@socaldad2002 The point I’m making is that merely because it’s high-up in rankings and has strong brand equity, doesn’t mean that it’s a sound option for the student’s aspirations, or even worth the cost. Note that rankings like US News don’t even use educational quality or educational outcomes to produce these rankings. It’s based mainly on money spent. The United States spends more money on education than any other developed country in the world, yet we consistently score the lowest. The idea is to get students to do their own research with interests, goals, and aspirations in mind. This way they learn the difference between fact and opinion and form their own educated opinion on which school fits them.
^^ I think what gets overlooked a lot on this site is the fact that the quality of the students, T/A’s, professors, research, and internships at high ranking colleges are better. I agree with you that COA and what you can afford is very important, but a college’s reputation of academic excellence is very important as well… You immerse a high performing HS student into an excellent academic environment and great things can and do happen. You only get one chance at a 4 year degree and I say challenge yourself to the fullest. If Middle Tennessee State is a low reach school, go for it; if your stats make Princeton a low reach school, why not apply?
I don’t think shooting for prestige is overlooked on cc. Polar opposite.
And many of the professors at what some deem lower tier are ivy league and equivalent grads. So they must be be pretty good.
Also look at the Fortune 500. Last time I checked 9 out 10 ceos in that group went to what would considered schools outside of the top tier and I’m not talking about grad school. Some pretty good things are happening in these schools as well.
It’s all relative. Every one of the top 150 schools in The country have kids going to med school.