You have a bunch of colleges you indicate are your top choice. I’m sorry but I think you need to rank these a little better.
With regard to Net Price Calculators…are your parents divorced? Do they own a business or are they self employed? Do they own real estate of any kind in addition to your primary residence? If no to all, the NPC will give you an estimate of your net costs at each schools. Estimate. Not award…estimate.
You say your EFC per FAFSA is $45,000 which indicates a fairly decent annual income for your parents…or assets or a combination.
In terms of chances of getting costs way down, I’d take CU off the list. They offer very limited merit aid because they don’t need to. There are plenty of folks who are willing to be full pay there from places like CA…plus instate CO students. This school is not likely to be affordable.
My first thought for you was University of New Mexico as it checks off all your boxes and would be affordable. Get that application done. Now.
You could also check Utah, Montana and Wyoming. Their OOS costs are more modest than some other places.
I know you want to get out of NY, but I would strongly suggest you find two SUNY schools to add to your list. The price is at your price point as an instate student.
It depends. Privates cost more than publics instate, and often more than OOS public costs annually. What you need to look at is your net cost, not the amount of scholarship money.
Your FAFSA EFC is $45,000, right? Colleges will expect your family to pay at least that amount when determining need based aid. Some privates give way more need based than merit aid.
For privates that give merit aid, you are looking at needing a LOT of merit aid to bring your cost down to $20,000. Keep that in mind.