If I were looking at colleges, I would look first at

1. Academic Fit
2. Financial Fit.

For academic fit, I would look at the college's own website but also reviews and deeper reading. I would also think about whether this is a college where I could not only get admitted, but whether I would thrive there? If you are seriously thinking pre-med, you want a college that would be supportive in helping you get through organic chemistry etc. but also in helping you apply to med school. Smaller schools can often have an edge in that situation.

For financial fit, go on the college's own website. By law they have to have a net price calculator somewhere on their site. Plug in the numbers and see if the college makes sense for you and your family. Some private schools offer more merit scholarships than financial aid, so visiting their website or calling the admissions office would be worth doing. If you have good grades and are in the top 25 percent or so of applicants, you are the one likely to get those scholarships.

Understand that out-of-state publics (often referred to as OOS) can be more expensive than a private school where you receive either financial aid or merit scholarships. So Georgia, Tennessee, Houston, Virginia Tech might in fact cost you more. Some OOS publics are notoriously expensive like Penn State. And if you are thinking pre-med, one goal to consider is keeping loans down because you will take more for med school.

NYU, Penn and Georgia Tech are highly selective. Additionally, NYU is nationally known for not giving good financial aid or merit aid. It also can be difficult to find housing in Manhattan and there are not enough dorms for four years.

So for your criteria, I would add the following schools:

College of William and Mary--in historic Williamsburg, Virginia. This one is public but is said to be on the more affordable end. Near DC as well.

Vassar--a great school, go into the city for the weekend if you want but a beautiful area to live in. Topnotch school that gets forgotten. Solid aid.

Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania has both proximity to places on the East Coast, but also has good aid and good support.

Emory (both campuses), also in Georgia. A friend's daughter just visited. They really, really liked it.

Elsewhere:

Willamette University or Lewis and Clark in Oregon.

Grinnell College gets forgotten and yes it's in Iowa. It has great aid and great teaching. Consider it.

>>> NYU is nationally known for not giving good financial aid or merit aid<<<

Almost true. Ace the PSAT and you can save a bundle.

>>>It also can be difficult to find housing in Manhattan and there are not enough dorms for four years.<<<

Not true. Students are guaranteed dorms for four years. (Most Soph+ dorms are awful, however.)

Your plan to take trains will work better in the northeast. Philly, NYC and Boston are all on Amtrak.

NYU quit offering National Merit scholarships several years ago. High stats and academic rigor may get you a scholarship, but it's opaque and not guaranteed.

https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/head...-program/29057

Official policy might be guaranteed housing. That's not how it plays out on a regular basis. Upperclassmen are regularly reporting in blogs, college websites etc., that they didn't get any housing at NYU despite turning in all of the forms and deposits on time. In this article, 550 students did not get housing who sought it:

https://nyulocal.com/no-dorm-in-sigh...n-75163d34c828

However, NYU is, of course, a great school. This discussion shows exactly why prospectives shouldn't just read marketing materials. As digital natives, they need to use their skills and stalk their potential colleges. Google SCHOOL NAME + "guaranteed housing" or "dorm food" or "Greek life" etc. And also use College Navigator: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

Thank you so much for these options! I will discuss them with my Family a

Are you consulting with your school college guidance counselor? As a grandmother with a granddaughter in pre-med at UNC-chapel hill (paying OOS tuitition and who also was interested in NYU) I am beginning to wonder how you are making this decision. And with so many excellent universities in your home state with excellent biological sciences departments. I even spent a year at Berkeley in microbiology. Great food in that area!

Sorry for the misinformation about NYU. I guess things have changed since my son's graduation a few years back.

W&M is about 3 hours from DC.

I think I would take Houston off your list for a lot of reasons. Georgia Tech for other things.
Good pre-med--Davidson College, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, Furman University, Emory, Tulane, Florida, Pittsburgh, Penn, U. of Colorado,

Wait. So you're a high school senior now? And you want to travel to some states this summer to figure out where to go to college in fall?

Ummmm, yeah. Got it!!

And your main criteria for this trip are food and sights? If you want a sightseeing trip in the South and are looking for great food, great. Let's not pretend this has anything to do with visiting colleges though, unless you're planning to take a year off between high school and college.

>> We will be going for a few weeks and are planning to go during June.<<

Won't that conflict with your trip to Europe in June with your cousin?

If colleges are really the priority then you should make a list of feasible colleges by:
1. Consulting with your school guidance counselor on attainable schools based on your grades and standardized test scores and understanding what you need to achieve in community college in order to transfer somewhere.
2. Consulting with your parents/responsible adults on financial feasibility if they are going to assist at all (cost of living would be a factor even if all they are going to do is pay your housing or something)
3. Considering how easily you can transfer from a community college. In Virginia, you can transfer to a public university from community college and all your credits will transfer and you are guaranteed admission when you meet certain GPA criteria. If CA offers something similar, as much as you want a change of venue, it is a worthwhile consideration.

Then you can plan a fun road trip based on the above (if you can rent a car, which is unlikely given your age). Have fun, explore and check our great places to eat.

Your approach to finding a college is unconventional to those of us who have done it or guided others through it because you don't seem to have narrowed any options and just seem to be looking all over the map. That's understandable, it's an overwhelming process. But this board isn't the place to get that advice on how to narrow it. Have people in your family attended college or are you first generation? Seek out someone who has recently been through the college selection process and you will likely have more success.

There's not a thing in the world wrong with exploring food and attractions near colleges that you are considering--but your initial approach is one that is, as I said, unconventional and potentially ineffective. Good luck. Have fun. Certainly some people here can point you to some good websites for making good choices about college, too.

If you're still in high school, then you're not quite 18 yet, correct? I'm not sure you'll find a car rental company that will rent you a car.

Most major car rental companies now rent to under 25. With a surcharge of course. But not necessarily a prohibitive one.

Agreed though, probably not if you're not 18.