“That seems amazing opportunity! How extraordinary do your extracurriculars need to be to garner such an award?”
I’ll out myself as a former Compton scholar, but that was around 30 years ago. There were several of us from my high school over a few years… I guess pre-internet not as many people knew about it so I’m sure there wasn’t as much competition at the time. Our high school had a highly competitive math team (as in, we won pretty much every competition we went to, but it was a small state). I also had put in a lot of time in band, but otherwise, nothing major. I think the biggest part of the competition was that essay on a research project. And then the interview. I was actually an alternate at first but this was back in the day when a top student might have multiple full-ride offers and someone else ended up going somewhere else so I got it.
Anyway, it’s worth a try, and if you like Wash U, I’ve heard that it’s a school that considers your interest in it as a factor in admissions, so applying for the Compton would definitely show serious interest.
I have no thoughts on your other questions… not familiar with UF. I’d say ask your school guidance counselor if you can count on UF as a safety or not.