“having created my own online business was a hook of some sorts.”
Under the standard terminology commonly used in college admissions, it’s not a “hook” (hooks are things like URM, legacy, first gen), but it could be something very interesting about you that shows them some of the qualities they’re looking for.
Tell us more about the business and what it shows about you.
I looked at the lists provided by @merc81 in post #18 above. Commissioned by Business Insider, a Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) researcher ranked the top 610 colleges & universities based on average SAT scores. Done in 2015, these SAT average scores do not reflect the newly re-centered (inflated) SAT scores introduced last year.
The 610 Smartest Colleges in America included these colleges & universities in the top 50:
Caltech
Univ. Chicago
Harvard & Yale (tied)
Princeton
MIT
Harvey Mudd
Columbia
Northwestern & Stanford (tied)
Rice
Vanderbilt
WashUStL & Notre Dame (tied)
Duke & Pomona (tied)
UPenn & Dartmouth & Williams College (tied)
Amherst & Swarthmore (tied)
Brown
Cornell & Georgetown (tied)
Vassar College
Georgia Tech & Grinnell College (tied)
UCal-Berkeley, Hamilton, & Wash. & Lee (tied)
Wellesley College
Emory & College of William & Mary (tied)
Boston College
Davidson College & Mount Holyoke (tied)
Kenyon College
George Washington University
Hopefully this list will help you to broaden your targeted schools by considering some of these outstanding academic options. Also, this list (an unjumbling of the crammed list format presented by Business Insider) will add perspective about your current targeted schools.
Also, to add on, you said you were looking at Biology/Genetics as a potential major. Based on your ECs, the only thing you list that would have pertinence to those majors would be volunteering at the hospital, which almost every student applying or even thinking of applying for Biology/Genetics will do. Ivies want to see a demonstrated interest to your prospective field of study, which by your ECs, you don’t really have. Your application doesn’t stand out to me in any way that would show a competitive profile at any of the Ivies, unfortunately. I stand by what I said earlier though, an early application to whichever of the Ivies you like most (I recommended Cornell ED) is your best shot at getting in, but even then your odds are slim. I think Delaware would be a school more reasonable for you as a match/safety, but I would agree with @happy1 that you should find more schools at a safety/match level that you would like to go to. GL!
If you like Boston, think about adding Northeastern, Boston College, Boston University, Emerson,Tufts, Brandeis, or Babson to your list. If you like DC, think about adding American University to your list as well as Georgetown. If you are female, you should check out some of the women’s colleges such as Wellesley.
Take a look at the common data sets for schools that you’re interested in. For example, the CDS for Penn is available at: http://www.upenn.edu/ir/Common%20Data%20Set/UPenn%20Common%20Data%20Set%202016-17.pdf The 25th percentile ACT for enrolled freshman was 32 making it an extreme long shot for ED. Additionally, ED may not be the best choice for students where financial aid considerations come into play. EA gives you the opportunity to compare multiple fin aid offers. ED is take-it-or-leave-it.
As others have said, getting into the super-reach schools is a crapshoot even if your stats are above their averages. If your stats are in their lowest quartile, an acceptance is very unlikely to happen unless you have a very significant hook. Creating an online business is a great EC that shows initiative, but for tippy-top schools this is not a “hook” - it is an EC that is in line with what many or most applicants will have.
A more appropriate low-reach/high-match school for you would be Case Western Reserve, which has excellent undergraduate sciences, lots of genetic research, and genetics-specific grad programs including genetic counseling. http://genetics.case.edu/ It fits your “urban school with a campus” criterion very well and meets 100% of demonstrated need. Cleveland is not quite East Coast, but it’s a step in that direction and not a bad city for college students.
Emory would also be a realistic reach that has substantial genetics research, a genetic counseling graduate program through the med school, and phenomenal public health programs because of their close ties with the CDC which is essentially right across the street in Atlanta. Again, this is an urban campus that fits your criteria. https://genetics.emory.edu/
Tulane would be a terrific match school that also has lots of genetics opportunities; and New Orleans is a vibrant and exciting place to go to college. https://medicine.tulane.edu/centers-institutes/hayward-genetics-center
(Pitt is also a good fit for your stats, but as an OOS public I’m not sure if it would work financially. But like the others, it has extensive genetic research and graduate education going on, including both a genetic counseling program and a genetics-focused public health program. https://www.publichealth.pitt.edu/human-genetics/academics/joint-degrees/dual-mph-ms-genetic-counseling Pittsburgh is also a great student city, and Pitt’s campus and the surrounding area are great. My guess is that it won’t be a financial fit, though.)
If, after broadening your search and looking closely at these schools, you still feel that you desperately want to be in or near one of the most in-demand east coast cities, then check out options like Brandeis, Fordham, and George Washington. But be aware that none of these will necessarily meet full demonstrated need. (U of Rochester, suggested up-thread, is also a great option academically but a “maybe” financially.) IMHO you would be better off casting a wider geographic net in order to be competitive for a school with the solid financial aid possible.
Run the Net Price Calculators for Emory, CWRU, and Tulane to get an idea what level of financial aid you could expect. One of these might make a great Early Decision school for you, if a clear favorite emerges.
It is very important to get you SAT scores significantly higher. The SAT II BIO score also weak. The GPA could be workable for a range of schools like CWRU, Tulane, GWU. I think it is unrealistic to waste much time on the top 30 rank schools unless you have other “hooks” not mentioned. BC is very stats-focus. I know a fair number of kiddos applied to BC in past two cycles and got WL or denied and they have SATs in the upper 1400s to low 1500s (and going for STEM majors, not CSOM). If you go for Tulane, CWRU - make sure you do the early rounds. Tulane is getting very selective, and I have heard from multiple sources that it is either early rounds or not even bother. CW has yet to caught up the selectivity game like many others, but after this year’s higher than expected yield, it probably will test its limits on how selective they can get away with next year. The number of AP classes you had in the context of your school’s offering is probably on the low side for the hypercompetitive schools. If you are able to improve your SATs by a good margin, say SAT 1480, SAT BIO 720+, then I think CW/Tulane early rounds are workable scenarios. GWU is funky in the sense of they are getting more selective, and yet they like to do WL due to yield protection. I’d say 1380 SAT probably a good area for GW, but if GW moves to become more selective, then 1380 could get a bit iffy. Spend you time on the 35 to 65 “ranked” schools (USNWR) considering your stats and vigor of HS curriculum. Then find the ones in this range that fit you best. I’d say UPitt, while lower ranked, has a very strong bio/med core and you should do well there. Same goes with Rugters (even you are OOS). Rutgers has a specific program for genetics for undergrad. which is highly unusual among national universities. Don’t waste time on the unrealistic options, focus on what you have and where you will fit the best. JMHO>