I would move Santa Clara to the target group…I don’t think it’s a safety.
Re:UCLA…if you can not pay the full $65,000 a year cost of attendance, you probably should take this one off your list. Even if you get merit, this will be a small dent in the cost to attend…and merit is extremely competitive. UCLA is not using the SAT or ACT at all…so they won’t even be looking at your score. You won’t get a dime of need based aid from UCLA as they don’t give aid to OOS students.
Re: your essay…I am not sure an essay about LGBTQ issues is a good idea.
Re: applying ED…if you need to compare net costs, you won’t get to do that with an ED acceptance.