I would consider these schools reaches because I am competing for merit scholarships, which are obviously quite difficult to get. My family has a difficult financial situation, so Georgetown and the Ivies are a pipe dream in every sense, but I think that some of my external scholarship applications combined with financial and merit aid may make going out of state a possibility.
In terms of timing, while I appreciate your concern, I don’t really write essays like a normal student. It has never taken me more than 2-3 days to come up with an idea and finalize it. I am definitely really lucky in that regard. Also, plenty of these schools have repetitive essays, like the extracurricular one. But you are right, and I have a priority ranking for the order in which I am working on these applications to make sure that I don’t get burnt out for the most important ones.
Thank you for your confidence in me! I am really flattered that you would consider GWU a high target, because their Elliot school is amazing.
Edit: Damn it, I meant to reply! Wow CC is more than my brain can handle right now lol.