You sound like you are fairly new to the college search process so here are a few tips:
- Colleges for the most part don't just want 'smart' - they want to know that a smart kid knows how to work. So it's not enough to have been identified as gifted when you were younger... that needs to be backed up by more recent proof (ie, SAT or ACT scores and GPA. Or as a homeschooler, by some other sort of verification like good grades in community college courses or from your online provider if you have one).
- There are not that many 'full ride' merit scholarships available in the US. Scholarships from the universities can be broken down into two types - 'need-based' (also known as financial aid) meaning that your family income qualifies you for grants or discounts or loans; and 'merit-based' which schools will give to top-performing students to entice them to come to their school over another school. Most of the very top schools don't give merit-based aid any more (although there are still a few who do)... you are more likely to receive it from a school that is easier for you to get into because they want to pull you away from a higher-tier school.
- Sometimes when you see on the news about some kid getting a full ride scholarship to an Ivy League or other high tier school, they are actually getting need-based aid because they come from a very low income family. They still deserve kudos for getting into the school, but the news does distort this piece of it sometimes.