@ parentologist Thank you for the insight. And yeah my Parents also really want me to go to UVA, but I really want to go to a school in a city and far from home to experience new things. I’ll definitely at least EA to UVA and if I don’t get into a good school at a low cost, I’ll just go to UVA.
@ AustenNut As for what I’m looking for in a college (other than being in a city) is mainly I want it to have good STEM or business programs and to have good prestige. I’ve also been into college football my whole life, so I would really love it if it had a good football team (hopefully that football isn’t Alabama because I’m a massive LSU fan). But if the college doesn’t have a football team thats perfectly fine. I prefer to be around stronger students and an environment that pushes me. I’m fine with any type of weather, but obviously warmer weather would be a bit better. Other than that, I don’t think I have any more preferences, as long as the total college costs is under around 50k.
Thank you to everyone who responded so far, your advice has been super helpful and has made me think a lot about college over the past couple days. I definitely have to rethink which colleges I should look to apply to. Before this I’ve been living in my own bubble thinking scholarships or financial aid (which I don’t even think I qualify for) would allow me to go to any college I got into. This has really opened my eyes and I’m very grateful for it.