I’m currently a junior. I go to a relatively prestigious selective high school where I currently have an average GPA (3.25). I previously attended a really crappy high school (literally the average ACT score is 17) and had a 4.0 there. I haven’t taken any real ACT/SAT since freshman year but I believe my ACT scores range around 27-28. I am hoping to major in Computer Science (or maybe pre-med but I’m leaning towards CompSci) or something similar. What are some schools I should aim for? Also what should I be doing now to prepare for college app season?
You may want to start with checking how affordable the Illinois public universities are. Run their net price calculators on their web sites with your parents and see if your parents are comfortable with the net prices. If not, then you may have to apply to less selective colleges which offer large merit scholarships (although there may be relatively few if your HS GPA is around 3.25).
UIUC is extremely competitive for CS (admission to CS there seems extremely unlikely with a 3.25 HS GPA), but some other Illinois publics like UIC, NIU, SIU-C, SIU-E may be more realistic for admissions. However, without real ACT and SAT scores (you may want to take one of each this academic year), it is difficult to come up with any estimates for admission chances.
Obviously, raising your HS GPA as much as you can this year can only help.
“I’m currently a junior.”
“what should I be doing now to prepare for college app season?”
Three things:
Try to pull your GPA up as much as you can this year. Your junior year will be the last full year of high school before you send in your college applications, and it will matter significantly. Keep ahead in all classes, pay attention at all times, try to do homework as close as possible to the day that it was assigned, and specifically don't leave it until the day before it is due as much as is reasonably possible.
Do some ACT and/or SAT preparation. It would help if you can pull your scores up.
Find out what you can afford. It might make sense to figure out what you can afford with no debt, and also figure out what you can afford with moderate debt.
It does no good to apply to someplace you can’t possibly afford, especially if you fall in love with it. Then you’re just setting yourself up for heart break. Do take advantage of the Net Price Calculators on each schools web site.
Have a look at some of the Colleges That Change Lives. https://ctcl.org/category/college-profiles/
Reed, Whitman, and perhaps a few others may be out of reach.
I’m not sure how many of the others would offer enough CS courses and financial aid to meet your needs.
The College of Wooster might.
Also there is a thread for class of 2019 so maybe that is one to follow since you are a junior. But the 2018 (and last year’s 2017 thread) discuss a ton of schools that might be worth looking into depending on your financial need.