I agree with others that you have some strong in-state options for your interests and that you have a strong background for your college applications. You may also want to watch your wording…when you said you had a low ranking, I was thinking you were in the bottom 25 or 50% of your class and then started questioning it when you were mentioning your grades. Emphasis added to your words:
Most people would say your are highly ranked (i.e. just be careful when you’re applying for any programs/schools/awards, etc).
And speaking of a “not so great, public High School” what kind of colleges do the top students from your high school go to? That might help us to understand what you mean by a “not so great” school.
Apart from your interest in bioinformatics and sharing your resume and budget, we have very little on which to chance you. These are some questions that you might want to think about that can help us to match you to potential schools.
- Do you prefer to be one of the top kids at your school or do you thrive when everyone is super impressive and you’re trying to keep up?
- Do you prefer for plum positions (whether dinner with distinguished visitors to the university, or spots in a preferred lab, etc) to be pretty easy to get, or do you prefer to be hustling and showing how hungry you are for the opportunities?
- How do you feel about Greek life?
- How do you feel about college sports and the role at the college you will attend?
- Do you prefer the anonymity of larger lectures or do you prefer smaller classes where there is no place to hide?
- Are there any particular activities you want to pursue in college?
- Are there particular areas of the country where you would like to study (or avoid)?
- Do you prefer an urban, suburban, or rural location?