I will definitely consider Rochester and Northeastern! I’ve heard that demonstrated interest is a relatively important factor for Northeastern, which I’ve engaged in close to zero of, so that might work against me, but I’ll look into it regardless.
I’ve considered applying for a non-CS/CE major, however, the problem is that my profile is so CS-heavy that it’d be extremely obvious to universities that I’d be aiming to switch majors.
ED2 at CMU is definitely a good idea! Not sure why I didn’t think of that.
Your last point is definitely valid. The problem is that I’m not sure if my profile is good enough for a place like Cornell or CMU or Georgia Tech without something like the ED boost - so do I really want to forego my most realistic chance at landing a place I’d be really happy to go to for possibility that I get into one of the lower-cost options you mentioned?
However, I have considered REAing somewhere, to try to take advantage of some kind of early round boost. My options would be Caltech, Stanford, Princeton, and maybe MIT (which I’m aware is extremely unrealistic for me). Not sure if I’m a great fit for any of these places, but it might be worth a shot if I’d prefer to wait for some of the cheaper schools / places like UC Berkeley which might be better than some of my ED candidates in certain ways (particularly location).