- My counselor was saying I should aim for really selective schools, like Tufts, Brown, and Wesleyan. These schools seem great, but I'm not sure if I should bother with really selective schools. Do I really have a chance? => why not? But FIRST, identify two affordable safeties you like, and about 5 affordable match schools you like. Among those you'd likely include your state flagship's honors college, universities with automatic scholarships for stats, LACs where you've run the NPC and know you can afford it + are in their top 10-20%, etc.
- If you live in Massachusetts, do not fall for the "trick" that you got full tuition through Abigail Adams: at UMass, tuition is like 3K, fees 12K... !
Once you’re done with these, you can go crazy and apply to as many reaches/dream schools as you wish or can afford. 
- My counselor also suggested making a common app account now, so I can start on the essays and start applying to colleges now. Is this a good idea? Is it too early? Not really, since commonapp accounts close in July and reopen in August. You won't be able to apply till August. You could, however, open one just to navigate it, figure out what information you need to input, etc. You can find the essay prompts, work through a couple prompts, etc.