OP, are you open to liberal arts colleges? If so, I wonder if the College Confidential community could suggest LACs that are good in these majors and tend to be generous when calculating financial need. There is often an admissions boost to male applicants at LACs.
When applying to scholarships / colleges, do you think those few bad grades could damage my chances? GPA hasn’t rolled over yet, so that 3.97 might be a bit deceptive.
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Agree that Georgia Tech is a reach and gives very little merit. However, the merit money they do give can be significant. You will need to apply early action to be considered for any of it, and I suggest you be sure when you are writing the Why GT essay to focus on their school motto, which essentially is progress and service - read the current wording of it. Highlight not only Why GT citing courses/professors/programs/opportunities available but also how you will contribute (tie it in to what you have done in the past). This essay seems to be often the bellwether determining admission/aid.
The fact you are Hispanic and first generation will carry a good deal of weight at GT.
Edited to add that you are first generation if neither of your parents have completed a four-year college degree.
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I’m not surprised. Harvard is very generous.
Yes, depending on the scholarship/college. A place like MIT is a big reach anyway and will be a bigger reach after getting a C in Physics. But other places will still be thrilled to accept you. STAMPs scholarships are super competitive and some Bs and a C may sink you…but NMSF/NMF scholarships are often guaranteed.
My own kid did not have perfect grades either, but still got the National Merit scholarship at his school.
I’ve considered liberal arts colleges, but the fact that they’re so small and remote scares me a little. I’m still considering Hillsdale and Amherst.
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How is the NPC coming out for Hillsdale and Amherst?
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I agree you should run the NPCs at these schools. Note that at Hillsdale, as they are not a Title IV school, you will not have access to the $5.5K first year direct student loan ($27K max over 4 undergrad years).
For NPC accuracy, are your parents divorced, or do they own real estate beyond a primary home, or own a business? If any of those are true, the NPCs may not be accurate. Also note that some not insignificant FAFSA changes are coming next year, and the NPCs are not updated to reflect them. Will you have other siblings in college in Fall 2024?
I will just say, Hillsdale is not generous with financial aid and scholarships. A good family friend applied for and was accepted to Hillsdale and is considered lower income. By the time he graduates, he will be 80k in debt. Another friend had to leave after one year because he had used up all his savings on Hillsdale tuition. Also, it is known as being extremely right-leaning. Just bringing up this point because it may matter to some people.
Ah. Yikes. Good to know, though!
Parents are together. No home, real estate, or business. No siblings in college, either.
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Can you tell me more about this club? Only a fun guy would found a club focused on fungi! 
Seriously, though, you have some interesting stuff going on. It’s hard to know from a list how shallow or deep you are with different pursuits, so it’s tough to judge which parts will have a more meaningful impact.
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Yeah! I’m still trying to get it approved, but for some reason I got obsessed with mushrooms around the last few months and I got an incredible amount of support for a fungi club at school. It’s mostly going to be lessons on different types of fungi and their characteristics along with maybe a mini foraging trip, kumbucha brewing sessions, etc.
We have glossed over it some, but your personal story may hold a lot of interest with AOs regardless of what happens with affirmative action. As you mentioned in addressing utilizing spanish as part of a service project, the immigrant story is likely less interesting to Florida state schools where it is more common. But don’t take for granted how generally powerful it is for you to have only been in the states for about 6 years and you have achieved so much.
You don’t need to share any specifics here about your background, but try to think outside yourself — or talk to someone who can see the big picture — about how it can be a compelling part of your application.
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I’ve definitely thought about it, but part of the reason why I’m hesitant to include the immigrant story in college apps is that I’m unsure about the “anatomy” of the application itself. Would I only be able to talk about something like that in my personal statement? If so, would it not be more unique to go for my interests instead? Or is there a section to include my background?
Great points. Also, south FL is very different from the rest of the country (and central/north FL). It is almost it’s own state/country. I will never forget my first visit to Ft Lauderdale/Miami when I was in middle school and how surprised I was at all the signs in Spanish. I asked my parents if we’d flown to Mexico. LOL
Have you traveled to other parts of the US? As @CCName1 points out, you have a more compelling story than you may realize. You should highlight that and stand out from the crowd.
I’ve very rarely been out of Florida, but I did go on road trips up to New York and west to San Francisco. Wasn’t a big fan of the Southwest, but I love the Northeast. Everyone here still mostly speaks English, so I never noticed much of a difference.
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I feel that I should also mention the reason I’ll finish senior year with Calc AB was that I wasted one year with 7th grade math (that I already knew) and I’ve been one math course back since. It’s one of those few places where moving put me at a disadvantage.
But did everyone elsewhere speak Spanish? That is the point I was trying to make. 
Your bilingual skills may be more valuable than you realize. Your accomplishments in the mere 6 years you have been in the US are definitely notable and you should be proud to highlight that, even if only by reference in an essay, rather than the focus of the essay.
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I am not sure what you are asking, but the short answer — if I am understanding it correctly — is that your personal statement/common app essay should NOT be about your activities. They can be found elsewhere in the application and there are creative ways to use the limited space on the activities list to convey a lot of information about them.
Your main essay should be personal and vulnerable. It isn’t intended to be trauma porn and can be lighthearted or not, but you should be telling a story that reveals who you are and why. A chronological narrative of your life is unlikely to be as compelling as a colorful anecdote about part of your life or family that gives an admissions office insight into who you are.
Admissions officers are trying to assess how you will contribute to a campus community. It doesn’t mean they are trying to slot you in as the next leader of XYZ club, but as someone else mentioned they will value characteristics like resilience or fearlessness or compassion that might have been developed through your unique personal/family story.
You can create a common app account now, or go look online for examples of the different sections to understand what goes where.
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