<p>First generation college student AND a 2300… Don’t sell yourself short, the schools you could be accepted to are MUCH more than decent… By the way, I haven’t seen your GPA or ECs, but even if your household income is pretty high, Vanderbilt, UPenn, and Tulane all offer pretty good financial aid, and you’d have NO problem getting into Tulane at all. You really do need to talk to them about this though… What I’d do is prove to them that you have a shot at being accepted (or do this after you have been), and show them the salary of the average graduating undergraduate student of the school, and show them your financial aid offers, along with the school’s rankings… Maybe this will help them open their eyes to the opportunities you’ve opened yours too…</p>