Did you already apply to all your RD decision schools?
Nope, I have a lot of applications left. Iâve applied to 12/28 schools, and I am working on supplements before submitting all of them.
Thank you, I will definitely be preparing for a rejection.
Let me check. Yeah, I was hoping I would get into one of the 20 reaches I had listed 
The really hard thing with these schools is that the very very low acceptance rate makes things totally unpredictable. As a result, you could get into 12 of them as you could get into zero. The worst is that no one would be able to tell you why. 
If all goes well you will get into one of them with a full ride+ but you have to prepare and have backups that will be solid academically and a good experience (for instance, I hope youâll be able to live on campus in the honors LLC !)
https://housing.umn.edu/llcs/honors
But a bunch of additional âpretty prestigious, very affordableâ choices would be even better than UMN honors 
⊠especially if you can avoid commuting.
Btw, blossom above is 100% correct you can build your own major - there will likely be 6 mandatory courses for it and youâll need to take 6 more that you can choose from a variety of alternatives; when you choose your classes you already âleanâ your major towards this or that direction and then you can use electives to complete it in any way you wish.
I suspect you will but you also have limited funds. So no idea why a Gw made the list.
But your list is heavy reach. I suspect the FGLI will help you.
But test optional will hurt. At Harvard, as an example, 83% of enrollees submitted. Doesnât mean you wonât be one of the other 17%.
None of us are AOs.
Youâll get admits tho - but affordable I dunno.
Anyway 20 apps is a lot. If you want to do more youâll need an alternative system. Really it ups to you but check the NPCs b4 wasting time.
Based on its NPC, they do use the FAFSA SAI in calculations, though they do not âmeet needâ if âneedâ is defined as list price - SAI.
UMNâs NPC for a student with a 3.9 GPA and 6414 SAI living with family gives a net price of $13,355 after applying a $945 Pell Grant, $8,602 Minnesota State Grant, $1,342 U Promise Scholarship, and $600 Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant from a list price of $24,844 (if you are not in the business or science/engineering divisions â otherwise, add a $2,600 surcharge that is cancelled by a $2,600 offset grant).
Note that the list price does include $4,840 living expenses and $200 transportation. Would your parents continue to subsidize your food, utilities, and transportation if you live at home while attending college, similar to how they pay for such costs while you are in high school? If so, then you would likely need to cover about $8,315 in remaining costs (which can be covered by a $5,500 direct loan and some part time work earnings).
Of course, the above net price is not assured until you have all of the grant and scholarship offers in hand.
Do you have data on that harvard reference?
My guess is that FGLI and Arts majors are heavily represented among the ~20% - basically, theyâre candidates the colleges donât have enough of, so when colleges fins exceptional ones that went TO they donât grimace. If you were a legacy you would be expected to submit a score.
Note that âinterestâ will factor in the decision. So, âjoin the mailing listâ wherever you havenât yet, check your email several times a week, open ALL emails they send you, and click on the link(s) you find most interesting. (It is tracked and it matters).
Anyway, for the record, rhe following colleges meet full need, generally very generously and without loans, AND they do not have supplemental essays.
⊠with the list of full need colleges that have no supplements (but require other forms of interest)âŠ
Bates
Colby
Colgate
Denison
Grinnell
Hamilton
Holy Cross
Kenyon
Middlebury
Muhlenberg
Oberlin
Sewanee
Note that some may require an essay for special programs and ofc I may have collated this wrong so check for each college of interest.
We just went through this process with our D23 last year. You have a very long list of reaches and you are not sure if all of those are affordable. Iâm not an AO but my husband was for many years. His advice would be to cut the number of reach schools. Also from our experience really research the financial feasibility of all the schools you intend to apply to. We are not low income but some of the reach schools D23 was initially interested in would be the lowest cost according to the net price calculator but we were considered full pay for our state flagship. Based on 1 school on your list Wellesley College I would consider applying to Smith College which is a full needs meet, no loan school. Still may be classified as a reach (but a higher acceptance rate than your reaches) but should be less than your state flagship for cost. Also consider apply to Mount Holyoke College. D23 is a freshman there. She received an excellent merit/financial package which brought the cost to just under our state flagship and was a TO applicant. Mount Holyoke does not deduct from financial aid for outside scholarships (D23 received 2 small outside awards) but some schools on your list will. But work study/federal loans could be part of your financial aid package. D23âs roommate is a FG and they have a excellent first gen program there. D23 was waitlisted at Smith but the NPC had it lowest cost of all the schools she applied to and our NPC estimates were extremely accurate. I think what many people are trying to tell you is donât leave good options out there. The downside of applying to so many reach schools is that it takes a lot of time, effort, and research for each individual school and it doesnât always increase your odds.
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The % test submit ?
Each school posts in their common data set section C9.
FYI, some of those on that list effectively do a bait-and-switch on âno supplementsâ by strongly recommending supplements from their application portal that you get within a couple days of applying through the Common App. For example, both Hamilton and Colgate have additional essays/prompts they encourage that are done directly in their portals.
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Thanks.
Hopefully though it helps OP spread things out a bit time-wise, although clearly the goal would be to have zero supplemental essay, period.
Some also request essays for specific programs and/or scholarshipsâŠ
(Hamilton would be a good choice for sth akin to PPE, ie., poli sci/policy+economics with a couple ethics classes.
Public Policy - Hamilton College Areas of Study)
I have checked them, all besides umich, umn, some safeties, and usc (usc but barely) are affordable. I wanted good affordable safeties but the schools in my state are really expensive privates.
on checking affordability everywhere.
Drop UMich from the list. As an OOS applicant they wouldnât give you merit aid anyway so if itâs not affordable from FA itâs impossible, no need to waste time when so many equally terrific universities would be affordable.
What about U Wisconsin as an alternative to UMN? Itâs always good to have 2 safeties just in case all goes south, so that you have a choice. I havenât checked their priority deadline so it may be too late and anyway full need colleges are more likely to come through for you.
Have you checked our Bereaâs website and criteria yet?
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I already applied EAâŠregretted too because I saw the NPC. If I withdraw my application will it remove a common application slot? Ill check the website.
It wonât 
Oh, ok thenâŠI saw few cases online where it worked out for lower income students but they were very few. Wasted an app spot even thought I love Umich.
Yes, theyâre supposed to have FA for certain OOS income levels but there were recent changes that I havenât had time to follow.
Anyway⊠itâs good that after such a bad surprise you checked the NPCs BEFORE submitting. Btw, anything can be removed from. commonapp up until the moment of submission. So if you are still in the peocess of checking NPCs and find an unaffordable university, just delete it from your dashboard and add one that does.