I agree. A Music LoR won’t work at MIT (it could be a supplemental), so OP needs another one for that school. OP should check every school’s website to get clarity on what LoRs they need, here’s MIT:
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Hi,
There were some very good questions asked in this thread. Here is mu $.02
Scratch all of UC schools - you will have to pay full freight (not aid for OOS)
UMich may be unaffordable
While it is OK if you want to chase prestige (you must have a balanced list including some affordable options. I would not call Fordham and UIC safeties, unless they are both academic and financial safeties. Are they both affordable options for your family because they do not meet 100% demonstrated need. A true safety must be a school that you can be admitted to, you can afford and when the dust settles, if it the last school standing, you would be happy to attend.
As other have stated, you need to run the net price calculator.
While your school does not formally rank, they rank for scholarship consideration. If you graduate with in the to 10% of your class you would be eligible for a STEM scholarship, which would give you free tuition at CUNY/SUNY.
While you have missed free application month at CUNY/SUNY, II would recommend getting an application for CUNY submitted today (deadline). You can apply to the Macauley’s honors program at Hunter or City. You should round out your list with John Jay and City tech.
You should also toss an application at Sophie Davis.
For SUNY: your major is at SUNY Poly (which flies below the radar but is an amazing place), UB, Cortland, Old Westbury, & Plattsburgh, all which offer your major.
As others have stated, you need two academic references; preferably one STEM and One Humanities in the core 4 (ELA/Math/SS/Science).
While it is nice that your mentor is willing to write your recommendation , it may just be considered puffery. Unless you are submitting for music, the band recommendation is not going to truly help your cause. For me;, as a potential STEM Major, not to see a science recommendation is a flag. I am surprised not to see any AP/College courses in science.
The difference between your weighted (102) and unweighted (91) GPA may single a little some grade inflation on the more rigorous courses. Remember, for the school on your list, there is already an expectation that you are taking the most rigorous courses that your school offers. They are most likely going to use your unweighted grades so that they can compare applies t apples.
Get the CUNY app done today, you ave until the 15 to get the supporting documentation
Get another academic recommendation - maybe ELA or science
hope this helps
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Pricey, but I can afford - my parents understand very well how much a lot of these colleges cost - I believe I can get some sort of financial aid/scholarship at the safeties too. I don’t want to go too much in detail, but generally cost of tuition should be fine as long as it’s not like USC/NYU full tuition since there are options that we have in place lol
Our school does not offer AP courses, and my unweighted is a 97.91… not a 91 haha. I made a couple typos when writing this
I edited the title and OP to reflect the typos you’ve indicated in later posts. Please let me know if this is not correct.
Unweighted HS GPA: 97.91/100 (edited by mod)
Weighted HS GPA: 102.48/100 (edited by mod)
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Congrats on all of your achievements. Agree 100% with posters who commented: 1. Add adorable safety, and 2. your intended majors are hyper-competitive.
My D (HS '23) had a nearly identical profile (IB diploma, same SAT, substitute art for music, and tennis for badminton/fencing). Of the schools on your list, she applied to BU, NYU, and Fordham and was admitted to each (as a liberal arts/business major). Fordham gave her a discount of about $30,000, but cost of attendance was still incredibly high. Also, she would have paid full freight at BU and NYU (upwards of $90k/year). She didn’t apply to any ivies, but was also admitted to a few T20 Unis and LACs.
Good luck to you!
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On common app schools will accept external letters of rec from non-academic recommenders, so my MSK LoR is for that one only. I will try and get a science letter of rec as well - thanks for the advice!
Just applied to Bing and Buffalo! 
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I’m not applying to UIUC - i’m applying to University of Illnois-Chicago, their tuition for OOS is a bit under 30k per year without any financial aid.
Fordham is like 60k?
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thanks for the advice! How much do you think supplements/essay would help towards my application to BYU/NYU/USC or the t20s?
also yeah 90k is outrageous… I but hopefully FAFSA comes through, or I get one of the scholarships at BU.
That cost appears to be tuition only. I did a quick Google search for Fordham University cost of attendance at Rose Hill. It’s $85,000 including room & board, plus supplies. Are you planning on commuting or not paying for fees?
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UIUC tuition plus room and board is very similar to UIC. Figure in cost of living in the city after spending the first year or two in dorms and UIUC is probably cheaper. And a much better school IMO.
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FAFSA is an application. It’s not funding. it’s just a form that goes to the federal government to see if you qualify for any funding from the federal government. The financial aid packages come from the schools.
Did you do any research about the total cost of attendance at the schools and what you can expect in the form of financial aid?
There’s something called the net price calculator (NPC) on each University website which will give you a bit more accurate information on costs of these really expensive schools. It will estimate any additional aid based on your parents income. It’s really important to look at the NPC for each of these schools.
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fordam was almost 90K with everything. My son who has stats similar to yours was going to apply but there was no benefit since the max merit aid would only be about 30K, binghamton and Stony brook even for out of state are better deals for peer schools.
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My D23 was admitted to Fordham with a slightly lower GPA, 95%, last year and received a $25k merit scholarship. We thought, great, that will put the school within our $40-$50k budget. Wrong! At least last year, the COA had increased more than $8,000, and would have cost $60k+.
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One of my siblings has work benefits that will potentially cover most if not all of my tuition as well, so maybe not? We still need to figure out the technicalities of that, however if not then commuting may be an option
Same for my S21, he received their highest arts scholarship, I think it was 30K, still outrageously expensive (and we are full pay and willing to pay for the right school, Fordham just isnt worth the full amount compared to other in state options)
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Really?
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Because your “stats” and other accomplishments will get you over the first bar, I believe supplemental essays will be very important for you, as they were for her. Last year, BU had the “Why Us” essay and her NYU program (Media Studies) did not have a supplemental essay. One sad reality of the process is that need aware schools sometimes choose full-payers over similar aid-seeking applicants, especially in the regular round. I’m not sure which of your schools are need blind or need aware, but something to keep in mind.
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I agree, Binghamton and Stony Brook sound like great fits! To the OP, my 2023 daughter had similar grades and college level classes, but not nearly as many or as impressive ECs and did not submit test scores and was waitlisted to NYU, so I certainly think you have a good shot of getting in! Good luck!!!
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