<p>Also, somebody on this thread mentioned that the OP has “national awards”. Maybe I missed it, but what national awards does the OP have? I wouldn’t consider AIME and NChO qualifier as “national awards”. Was the PVSA Gold volunteer award a “national award”? (I’m not familiar with that one.) I ask because a national award does, in fact, make you a much juicier candidate to the AdComs for Ivy-caliber schools. Lacking a national award or a couple of state-level awards means that some other part of your app (other than your stats) needs to WOW them.</p>
<p>Although I do think that your volunteer leadership roles look very intriguing. A provocatively compelling essay about them combined with LORs about your first gen, low income status might be enough of a hook (with those stats).</p>
<p>Also, are you a National Merit Semi-Finalist? If so, then you could easily apply early to one of the many colleges (lower than the Ivy tier, obviously) that offer automatic NMF scholarships and get an early acceptance with a big merit scholarship package. That could be your safety. In the bag. Done.</p>