Congratulations on your accomplishments in high school.
In looking at your list and budget, I wondered whether you have heard about QuestBridge. If your family earns less than $60k/year, then you may be eligible and it would allow you to apply to up to 20 top schools and wherever you match you would get a full ride: QuestBridge | National College Match
Also, you may already be aware of this Nebraska program that allows all students from families with incomes of less than $65k to attend tuition-free: Nebraska Promise | Undergraduate Office of Admissions | University of Nebraska–Lincoln. If your family lives in the Lincoln area, then that would be commutable from home and thus within the $5k budget. I would speak with a financial aid advisor about how to get other costs covered, as it appears the Nebraska Promise would use any amount from a Pell Grant as well as scholarships to pay the tuition price, but does allow for extra scholarships to be used toward housing, etc.
I would eliminate Purdue and UIUC from your list as you would not receive any need-based aid beyond the federal amounts (Pell Grant plus $5500 federal loan) which will not get you close to the cost of those schools for out-of-state students. U. of Michigan may now offer need-based aid for out-of-state students from low-income families. The only other publics that I know of that do that are U. of Virginia and U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
All of these schools, however, would be very, very tough admits. I would instead gear your search toward schools that are still very generous to students with a lot financial need but that are not as hard of an admit. Please do not make the mistake to think that they will be easy admits. They will not be easy, but they will be easier admits than the schools on your list (outside of UNL).
- Bucknell (PA )
- Case Western (OH) - I have heard that they are being very intentional about trying to recruit a more diverse student population.
These next two schools will be likely admits, but it may be harder to get the scholarships.
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Florida A&M (HBCU): If you get your ACT score up to a 32 in July, then you may be a contender for the Distinguished Scholars Award which would cover tuition. Even with your current stats you may be able to get Presidential Special Scholarship which would also cover tuition. Both scholarships, however, have a 3.3 GPA requireYou could then use your Pell Grant and other federal funds toward room & board.
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Tuskegee (AL): You may be able to get full ride at this historical, well-reputed HBCU: Freshman Scholarships | Tuskegee University
You can only apply ED to one school at a time. If you intend to ED, then you would want to 1) make sure it’s your top choice school, and 2) have your family run the Net Price Calculator to make sure it’s affordable for your family. If you’re rejected or deferred by your ED1 school, then some schools offer ED2. At any school that offers an EA (Early Action) option, you should take it.