UW and UF have gotten very competitive for OOS applicants. I would not consider then safeties. Similar your targets are reaches.
Unless you would be happy at UTK or Alabama, I would look at expanding your targets. Look for schools with 40-50% acceptance rates.
@gumbymom can give better numbers…but don’t expect a lot of merit from the UC. IIRC, the scholarships they award are in the $3000 a year range.
Noted.
Thanks for the advice. Our counselors tend to overstate our chances of admission, so I guess I was misinformed. I am legacy for UVA and my dad taught there for many years, so could that bump it back down to safety? I def know I would be quite happy there.
Your sure things sound good. So if you want to apply to all reaches for the rest of your schools…go for it. You have some sure things on the list in the above post.
I agree that University of Washington should not be viewed as a safety. But you have others.
Many schools only consider legacy for students applying in binding early decision rounds. I would not consider legacy moving the needle enough for UVA to be anything other than a reach. Not sure how your parent being a prof would play into the equation though. If he still has a contact at UVA, he could call and ask.
It probably improves your chances, but I still wouldn’t consider it a safety given that you are OOS. To maximize your possibility there you would need to ED.
Thank you for your concern lol. I get 7 hours, no worries, and have a decent social life. I make a point to still go to parties and not always think about academics, but when I start spiraling I can set unrealistic goals and stress about meeting them. I enjoy love the fulfillment of freelancing and journalism in general, so I’m not just chasing an EC there. My other activities are time-consuming, but they’re with friends so we suffer a tolerable amount of pain together.
The UC’s offer little merit and since they are test blind, your competitive SAT score will not be considered for admissions or scholarships. The most prestigious merit scholarships are Regents at the UC’s are given to the top 1-2% of applicants. Each campus determines their selection criteria so applicants may receive Regents for one campus but not others.
Below are the amounts given below.
Amount: Awards vary by campus and are not transferable if you transfer to another UC campus.
UC Davis does have the Provost Scholarship for OOS applicants which is around $13K. Still UC costs would be in the $50K+ range for UC Davis.
From the UCB website:
New students who are not residents of California will not be eligible for our need-based grants or most scholarships. We encourage you and your family to develop a plan to meet your educational expenses until the time you graduate from UC Berkeley.
UC Irvine has the Director’s scholarship for OOS students. The amount of the award is not listed.
National Merit Finalist will likely help with acceptance and funding at these schools. University of Tulsa is another that has a very generous NM package. Fordham offers a full-tuition NM scholarship. USC guarantees a half tuition scholarship if an admitted student is NMF.
Edit: Just saw BU on your target list. They also have a nice NMF scholarship. They require that a student declare BU as their first choice before March 1. That’s a lot earlier than most schools so, if BU is a top contender, pay attention to dates and deadlines for this scholarship.
Actually…apply for the Trustee Scholarship at BU. It is a full tuition scholarship which is highly competitive…but if you are selected…well worth it.
UF is not a safety school for anyone…
Cool… just remember, your life is not decided by the 4 years you spend in high school, or which college you go to, and so on. You can increase your opportunities for sure, but not to the point where it’s worth developing ulcers.
The main point is you have an academic profile that fits many, many top tier universities. However, not a single one is a sure bet or even 50/50, and it’ll have very little to do with how hard you work or how talented you are. These schools can easily fill their incoming classes 4 times over with equally qualified candidates. You can’t control that. You can control your grades, and EC’s… so make sure you enjoy what you’re doing and then you come out a winner no matter what.
Good luck!
UvA got ~55,000 apps this year and many legacy kids applied. It’s very hard to get in even as a legacy kid. My DD is legacy but as of now I do not know if she will get in since we are OOS.
I’ll leave it to the adults for tempering your expectations lol but as an applicant myself, your stats and profile are amazing. You’ll definitely get into your dream school 
Would you be happy to attend U. of Tennessee or U. of Alabama? If so, that’s fantastic. If you would be unhappy about attending, then I would recommend looking for additional safeties. A safety needs to meet three conditions:
If a school doesn’t meet those three conditions, then it’s not a safety.
And while you love pedigree…don’t forget Bana has more NMFs than anywhere. UTK is loaded with smart people. And people are choosing these schools and more over the Ivies every day.
Your “target” schools all have very low admissions percentages and UVA is not a safety for anyone, in state or out.
You do have some reasonable safety schools, and you have a wonderful record, but it is a very tough environment to the schools with single digit admissions rates.
Anyone have any suggestions for safeties they feel would be a good match for my profile? It seems my research has been lacking in this area 
It can be hard to find safeties that you like so you aren’t alone in this. Most schools offer the majors you are interested in so what is important to you otherwise (in terms of atmosphere) - large, small, urban, rural, LAC, big public? Are there any regions of the country you’d be opposed to? What about Greek life? You might start looking at less selective colleges that have some of the elements you love so much about Yale. For political science, you may want to check out American and GW - although with American you need to show the love. You have a fantastic background and should be proud of all you have achieved - some school will be lucky to get you.