<p>I don’t think that Brandeis will decide that it was not your first choice simply because you didn’t apply ED. Many students don’t apply ED because they need or want to compare the financial situations before deciding where to attend. And if your parents were not (yet, at least) willing to pay the full cost of a Brandeis education, then you had a valid reason for not applying ED but still considering it “your” first choice.</p>
<p>On the other hand, as you should be aware, the cost of attending Brandeis is around or above $ 45,000 per year. Brandeis awards a fair amount of merit-based aid but it is competitive among many top students and is heavily based on stats. Your 610 on the SAT CR may be sufficient for you to be accepted at Brandeis but it may prevent you from being awarded any merit aid. So it sounds like the financial cost of going to Brandeis will definitely be an issue in your family. You should be thinking about how to work that out with your parents if you are accepted. And since you already know that Brandeis is a reach, you should be thinking about which other schools you would like (or at least be willing) to attend if you are not accepted there. It may even be that your parents are right about other schools being better for you.</p>
<p>But if you still want to push for Brandeis, then yes, you should push yourself to try to get and take part in an interview. Even trying for one will be a positive in your application file.</p>