I think OP used 20 spots.
Wisconsin is $28kish for Wisconsin residents and $32kish fir Minnesota residents. Not sure if Minnesota grants play.
Now there’s the Midwest Student Exchange and a school like U Wis Osh Kosh Fon Du Lac campus l, as an example, has $2624 tuition.
I am curious about the NPCs this year. Are they based on the previous FAFSA forms? If so, is there a chance that they could be really inaccurate this year, assuming that the FAFSA changes impact who’s in line for what? If the FAFSA changes don’t change any of that, why did they bother changing it?
Well, I got a yale interview late yesterday! I have never had an interview like this before and am scared haha. Especially because my interview graduated in the nineties.
The good news is Yale is thought to only interview people in is considering (whereas many schools grant interviews randomly or to as many as possible based on the luck of location and interviewer availability). To be clear, there are still many interviewed, even if they have a good interview, that aren’t offered admission. But it likely means you are at least in the consider pile.
really??? wow…
Make sure you study up.
My kids used the STAR method. You can use what works for you - you can look it up.
It helped them because they thought of 3-4 scenarios and they could use them to pivot to - no matter the question.
Find what’s best for you.
Make sure to look them in the eye (or the camera) and answer the questions asked. If you need a brief pause to gather your thoughts, that’s ok too.
Best of luck.
PS - it’s just a talk/conversation literally - so don’t get all worked up.
Congrats to you. It’s a wonderful opportunity.
This has been discussed before if you search the forum. Perhaps review last year’s admission topic. The way Yale puts it is they prioritize interviews for people they want to know more about. So if someone is already a slam dunk yes, they don’t need an interview, and if they are a clear no they don’t need an interview. The in-between category is basically the consider category which is still a much bigger pool than the admit pool but means you passed the first review.
Yes, really.
Now, you need to prepare that interview.
You must be able to nail questions like:
“Tell me about yourself.”
“What makes you think you are a good fit for Yale/Yale is a good fit for you (you need specific examples showing adequation between you and them)?”
“Do you have questions for me?”
Congrats. I sat for a Yale interview 30 years ago. Keep in mind they can fill the whole class with 4.5 gpa, 1600 SATs. They are building a class. Just tell them why you like it there. If you didn’t apply to Harvard I’d lead with that. Tell them why. I spent my whole interview talking about elk. I think the lady thought it was funny.
OP applied to Harvard - and many many more
Match:
9. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities EA (in state, college of science and engineering) waiting on honors and scholarships
10.Macalester college (community health) (RD)
11. George Washington university RD
Low reach
12. University of Michigan EA PPE
13.University of North Carolina health care policy EA
Reach:
14. .Yale university REA ethics politics and economics
15 .Harvard university (RD) government
17.University of Pennsylvania (RD) health and societies
18.Columbia university (RD) public health
19.Princeton university (RD) SPIA (school of international affairs)
20.Brown university (RD) public health
21.Cornell university (RD) public policy analysis and management
22. Stanford University (public policy) RD
23. University of Chicago (RD) public policy analysis
24. Duke university (RD) public policy (maybe if time)
25. Wellesley RD
26. Vanderbilt RD Public Policy
27. Northwestern university (RD) social policy
28. USC (RD) public policy first choice
Will my chances at penn be higher because I participated in the Upenn PEEP fly-in?
Yes. So it should be the one you’re working on - then ‘let sit’ for a month before sending so you can look at it critically with fresh eyes.
In the meantime email your regional rep, asking questions you genuinely have about your academic interests, resourcesnfor FGLI students, etc (first make sure the answer isn’t obvious on their website…)
Try to decide, from 18 down, which are your favorite 4 (or which have the best FA as per NPC). Prioritize them when working on your apps.
Complete the St Olaf application alongside the Macalester app. Think of 3 ways the 2 colleges are different and how your strengths and interests just happen to match their unique offerings/particularities 
(for instance, Policy Conversation, Ethics req, and econ/management major at St Olaf/intl dimension, experiential learning&city internship, exploration of policy&diversity at Mac…) Then, let them “sit” Dec 20-Jan so you can read them again with fresh eyes.
At Cornell, you may want to look into ILR and CALS.
Thank you for this, I will look into ILR and definitely decide on 4. Should they be a mix of realistic reaches and near impossible reaches? I was thinking on 2 ivies and 2 other selective schools to be the ones I prioritize.
You have 4 slots left ?
You need to find four or at least three schools that are easier admits that the NPC shows well. This is your St Olaf, Franklin & Marshall, Miami Florida, Connecticut College, Occidental, Trinity, Union.
You are seeking pedigree. I’m seeking an affordable admit for you and all these schools are prestigious and rejective but less rejective.
What you don’t want is to be rejected everywhere or only having not affordable acceptances. Applying to more Ivy isn’t going to help that.
Run the NPC and look into vibe bc “Ivies” don’t have much in common (ie., broad strokes, Dartmouth is very Greek heavy and rural, Penn is preprofessional and urban, Brown is artsy and urban… if you like Dartmouth you’re more likely to like Duke than Brown for instance… ) Read Fiske Guide or Princeton review’s Best Colleges.
Applying to all 8 Ivies is both time consuming and a sign you haven’t looked deep enough into each to write good essays highlighting on what 3 specific pts you match them
Seems like the OP is “shotgunning.” That’s a conscious strategy on many applicants part, not the necessary a reflection of having not researched enough or not being dedicated to writing pointed enough essays.
I’m not saying I agree with the strategy but I do understand it and have come around to feeling the jury is out of saying its not a viable strategy, if the top priority for the student is prestige and not fit.
What I would like to see from the OP is some “chance me” information. Right now, the things we know: she has taken a lot of DE classes (however unknown if taken at her high school or at a college), 2 AP classes, is applying TO, is concerned about math level, lots of EC’s (specifics unknown), first generation and URM.
The applicant’s strategy is maximum financial aid rather than prestige per se. The most generous colleges are of course the most selective and the most prestigious.
She recognizes she doesn’t really have enough time to shotgun the Ivies PLUS Stanford plus Wellesley plus JHU plus USC plus UChic plus… (28 apps in total, with OP already admitted to UMN, waiting on FA.)
I fully understand the goal of maximizing the numbers of apps to maximize the odds of a full ride+ without loans but to opimize odds she should start prioritizing them by cost&fit, with 4 reaches and 4-5 solid meet-need matches (StO, Macalester, and a couple others) being all “applied out” and before running out of CommonApp space.
The Penn fly-in and Yale intw are good indicators OP has a good shot at some highly selective colleges but cutting some in the 18-28 range of likability to add the meet need matches seems important to me, even if they’re Ivies.
If she has time left and wants to start a Coalition app for a chance at shotgunning, I’m all for it 
as long as the 4-5 meet need apps and “best fits” are ready.
I think the strategy is Ivy / prestige over all else and she’d rather (in time of app at least) go to UMN and live home than take advantage of others that might be easier to get into. And with that many DE, she’d be out sooner vs. the top schools where credit will be likely lost.
But in order to max aid, she needs to run the NPCs first. No point in applying to - Miami - per se - if it comes back $15K a year, etc.
The FGLI will help a lot for sure - but stats wise she could be 0 for at the top schools…and that’s the hard part to evaluate.
Hey, I am fine with giving that information.
Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.) Female, African American, normal public, URM, FGLI,
Intended Major(s): Public Health/Policy everywhere it’s offered
ACT/SAT/SAT II: Test optional
UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.90/4, No weight or rank
Coursework:
7 honors classes, 16 DE classes, and 2 AP Classes, highest rigor possible at school with the exception of math of course, dual enrolled and about 3 classes away from getting my associates of arts.
AP scores-US History and Stats (4 on both)
DE Classes: eng comp, eng lit, general biology 1, introductory chemistry, gen chem 1, intro to psych, intro to sociology, intro to microeconomics, world history 1, accelerated communications, ceramics 1, precalc, three thousand level classes in congressional politics, epidemiology, and global health issues. Also i’m taking bowling next semester (very excited for that)
Awards:
Created a community prevention petition assessing community support,
Received 350+ signatures, support from national organizations members of the house, and many students and community members
-commendation from county’s public health organization regarding my advocacy work
-national community service award for 100+ hrs (have around 300 right now)
-youth ambassador for natl prevention organization, featured in national newsletter
-top ten percent of community college, deans list in the spring, and phi theta kappa member
Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities
Co-President, member of state lobbying team for a prevention group
Rep for state youth council
Appointed by governor to a state policy cabinet
legislative intern under a member of the house of reps
work 22 ish hours a week at a store thats understaffed so as a result i take on basically manager like responsibilities helping close, clean, and attend to multiple sections of the store and handle freight. i work the closing shift mainly 
representative to curriculum advisory council to school board
youth fellow with civic engagement organization
liaison with a prevention organization
jr summer I worked 50 hrs/week at a store, also worked 12 hrs/week during part of JR year at a store
grassroots organizing work and volunteering (300 hrs of service)
Essays/LORs/Other: Wrote my common app essay on tea and what i’ve learned listening to family discussions and how learning about my heritage has made me want to become someone who leads her community