Help Me Build A College List! Bay Area High Schooler [CA resident, 1530 SAT, 4.0 GPA, undecided/pre-medmaybe?]

[NiceUnparticularMan]

Looks like you have two threads:

Match A Lost Undecided Major High Schooler With Decent Stats

So the good news is many colleges are on what is called an exploratory model where you just start taking classes and don’t actually declare a major until after a year or two. Where they have major subdivisions, you’d probably want to start in something they might call Arts and Sciences or similar, which is where most of the popular majors for premeds would be, and also a variety of other options that would seem potentially suitable for you. It looks to me like your big constraint is cost, as $40K is below the full pay amount for most OOS publics and privates. That’s fine but unless you really have a strong preference for leaving the state, you should probably apply to a good selection of your in-state California options. You have a great system in your state, and many of those colleges would seem to fit your requirements. And even with merit, I am not sure you will get comparable value at many OOS publics. Miami (Ohio) though is an interesting idea, since they do have merit. You…