WUSTL is the elite St Louis one. Yes. Similar to an Emory or Northwestetn or Vanderbilt. A step above Miami in rank.
But find the right school for you, not the highest ranked. Part of that fit is budget though.
Just a few more ideas.
Haitian versus African American is not going to make a difference for T20 admissions in my opinion. Donāt worry about it.
For LACs, consider Amherst. It is an excellent school of course, and does not really have a rural feel. I think your profile would be very attractive there. They have the Access to Amherst program to increase diversity, which you can apply for right now. Acceptance into that program would give you an early read on how competitive an applicant you are, and it is also a strong indication of likely acceptance in the regular decision round.
Good luck!
Please note that Meet Full Needs doesnāt necessarily preclude the needs package from including loans. You will need to read up on each school that proclaims to Meet Full Need and see if loans can be part of the package. UMiami apparently may include loans in your needs package so may not be as good a deal as it appears on the surface.
Amherst College is need-blind the same way Harvard and Yale are right? Love the open curriculum so Iāll definitely look into them. Iāll be sure to apply for A2A, thank you I had no idea that existed! I was also going to apply to Williams, Bowdoin, and Swarthmore
This is such a good point, didnāt even think about this! I would prefer to go to a school that meets full need without loans, of courseā¦
Oh no I only asked because I saw St Louis University and didnāt know if that was a shorthand or something. Thanks for the clarification!
Even though you have plenty of reaches on your list you might want to look at Princeton. Itāll meet your FA needs if you are accepted easily with no loans. They have A Global Health Program that you would seem to find interesting. Itās only a Certificate program (kind of like a minor) so youād major in something else like Public Policy but there would be plenty of other perks involving travel abroad that would most likely be fully covered with Financial Aid. Itās also easy to get to the Trenton Airport where Frontier Airlines has numerous cheap flights to FL (you can check if they fly close to where you live exactly) or Newark Airport which also may have cheap flights to your FL locale.
I also have family in NJ so yeah I should probably put Princeton on my āexplore furtherā list. Thanks so much!
Iād suggest researching college fly-in visit programs. These are intended for under-represented and diverse students. Do this soon, if it looks like something youād be interested in. Application deadlines are relatively soon, I think.
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1Ā° UMiami defines need in a less generous way. For a family of 4 making 18K, their net cost would be about 9K or half their income thatās poverty-level. Even with a loan, itād still leave 3.5K which is unrealistic for a low income family.
2Ā° Look into Fly Ins. Theyāre programs organized by āgenerousā universities who want high-achieving students from groups they have few of (so, might include Black or Asian or rural or urban or Hispanic or First Generation or all of the above!..)
Hereās a list Iāve found, click and explore.
https://admissions.upenn.edu/penn-early-exploration-program-0
https://wp.stolaf.edu/admissions/counselors/fly-in/
https://admissions.lafayette.edu/obc/
https://www.grinnell.edu/admission/visit/on-campus/programs
https://www.fandm.edu/summit
https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/ce2
https://www.bowdoin.edu/admissions/visit/explore-bowdoin/
https://www.amherst.edu/admission/diversity/a2a
Some 2021 applications may not be open yet so keep checking.
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Yes, Amherst is need-blind, and will also be fairly generous.
Based upon direct experience, I will say that Princeton will likely be the most generous of T20 universities for most financial situations, especially for ~30K total household income families. Some other Ivies will typically match a better offer from Princeton, so if Princeton is at all appealing to you, I would add it to an application list.
Of the the three LACs you mentioned in addition to Amherst, my gut says you are more likely to find your best fit at Amherst. Again, best of luck!
I ran the NPC with the same numbers as with UMiami.
PRINCETON
OP would get full tuition, fees, room, and board.
Then heād get $1,000 for personal expenses, books, and/or travel.
The rest (other personal expenses) would be expected to be covered with a campus job for $3,500 over the year.
Check out Colby College in Maine. It is more rural, but will cover all your need WITHOUT loans. Explore their website a little and see what you think.
Just like prestigious universities, prestigious LACs do a fantastic job educating motivated students, who, upon graduating, are well equipped for great jobs and grad schools. Look beyond the usual suspects or HYPSM. Your profile would make you a very competitive applicant for many excellent LACs, who might offer you a lot of FA or lucrative scholarships.
My child got a fantastic education at an LAC and is currently working with grads from Harvard and other schools mentioned. (Her demographic is not similar to yours.) Iām posting this link just so you can get an idea of what LACs offer before discounting them because you think they are too rural, too small, or not well known. The people who need to know, know about LACs. How Bates prepared my student for her future
@Dunshire there are other disadvantages. This student might benefit from more time to build on the things he does outside of school. Or maybe having time to mature will help him adjust to college more easily.
OP, you will not be able to work 20 hours a week if you get into virtually any elite school. Most, if not all, mandate that students canāt work more than a certain number of hours per week. 8 is common. 10 is probably generous. Studies come first, and prestigious colleges also have expectations that you will be involved with campus life. Money is clearly an important factor in your path forward. Maybe take a year off after graduation to work and help build your familyās finances before you head to college.
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Paging @EconPop and @ChangeTheGame in case they have advice.
Minor points - Emory is in Atlanta as is the CDC, you might give it a look.
Washington and Lee- I expect they would REALLY want you, but it is in a small town in a rural area, and has a racist past, which they are trying to make up for now. On the one hand itās a very wealthy school that is throwing its money around (they are setting up funding to pay every student for internships, besides the well known Johnson scholarships). On the other, I suspect being a POC could be particularly challenging on this campus. Because of the money, its definitely worth investigating, but because of its culture itās worth looking at it very carefully. My S21 will be attending, so I do like the school, but I do have reservations, particularly for POC.
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Rice also has(or at least had when my D17 applied) a Fly-in program one in the Summer and one in March of the graduating year. You could email Admissions and ask.
My D17 had a couple of different jobs at Princeton. One was working in the Music Library where she mainly sat and did homework and was available to help anyone if needed. Another was at the Rec Center making sure people swiped their ID card to enter. Both paid $15.00 and she could do homework or read while āworkingā. She also was a tutor one year for the specialized program she did as a Frosh and that paid $20 an hour but was only for 5 hours a week unless she picked up times that other people wanted off but that was generally spent help Frosh that needed it. She also got a job later with Princeton Tutors tutoring local high school students in Math. That started at $25 an hour and went up to $30 after working a certain amount of time. I list all of this because it might be indicative of what youāll find at other schools with large endowments.
WOW! Iāll definitely check out all these resources, thanks a ton!
On the gap year idea, my family is strictly opposed to it. I donāt exactly know why apart from pride to be quite honest, but I donāt fight battles I know I canāt win (: (e.g. debating with family lol)
Iāve heard itās not located in a very fun area but of course beggars canāt be choosers 
Also just generally speaking I appreciate all the feedback. NGL I had some reservations about CC, but you guys are so nice ((:
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