<p>You’re very welcome:) Good luck to you-it is a very exciting time! </p>
<p>As mentioned by @shawnspencer, apply to a range of schools, including some safeties, matches, and a reach or two, and if you have not discussed the financial piece with your parents in detail, definitely do so. </p>
<p>Many parents assume that their very bright, high achieving students are sure to receive merit aid from any school to which they apply, but it does not always happen, and as you know, many schools don’t offer merit aid at all. Together, you and your parents should come up with a plan for paying for college, how much they are willing to pay each year, loans you might take out, etc. </p>
<p>If you will need a certain amount of merit$$ to make the finances work, be sure to apply to schools where you have a good chance of getting some - check the student profiles and make sure your stats are well above the 25 - 75 percentile range which is usually listed (if you are having trouble finding info, do a search on the school website for the “common data set”, which will list it.</p>