Are you an American citizen?
@txstella Nope but my parents are going to be taking the citizenship test soon so I will be then. 
We came here via a 10-year Visa which we got from a sweepstakes.
@ClarinetDad16 Yea I understand where you’re coming from. A lot of people just want to go to these schools for superficial reasons and I’m sure these schools can identify when people do that (considering how they reject many applicants with perfect SATs and GPAs).
HYPS are still reaches, even with URM status. The fact you may be considered an international student (?) would work against you – maybe others can shed more light on that.
So I think you should add some lower reaches, a few matches, and a safety to your list.
Examples of lower reaches might include:
Cornell
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Georgetown
Rice
Examples of high matches might include:
Boston College
Wake Forest
Tulane
U Rochester
Lehigh
Examples of matches might include:
Southern Methodist (SMU)
George Washington (GWU)
Syracuse
Miami(FL)
Fordham
Also look at some liberal arts colleges. Like most of the private universities listed above, they tend to give good financial aid based on need.
A safety would be a less prestigious (affordable) state school or private school.
@prezbucky I’m not an international student. I’m in the USA.
Cool. If you are considered a US applicant, due to URM status you have a slight-to-moderate advantage. Still, HYPSM (and other “elites”) carry no guarantees… so it’s probably still a good idea to apply to a selectivity-diverse group of schools. There are plenty of great schools here – you’ll get an outstanding education somewhere.
You’re given the car… but you have to drive it.
Hello: my hats off to you. Having a class rank in the top few students of your grade is quite an accomplishment.
The path to acceptance at HYP is not easy, but you’ve managed to tick off 4 of the critical boxes: grades, class rank, course rigor and standardized test scores. The last missing piece of the puzzle is perhaps one of the most nebulous, and is what @ClarinetDad16 and @collegemom3717 have also pointed out: what will separate you from the pack?
This last box is most often achieved by having spectacular extracurriculars. Basically you will need something of national or international prominence to “wow” the adcom members. What you’ve displayed to us is a list of math related activities, most on the local or state level. However you don’t have anything with the wow factor. Although math competitions are one way, another option is to do some university level math research. Have you approached any math profs nearby to offer your help for a project?
You still have time. This summer will be a critical period for you. Also have you looked into applying for RSI at MIT?
@sgopal2 Thanks! BTW I looked into RSI at MIT and I will apply there 
Do you know of any similar programs by any chance? And do you know how I could approach getting into a university level math research? Do I just email a college prof. from a local college that I’m interested in doing research with?
OP, being in the US has nothing to do with being able to apply as a domestic or international student. Those are two separate things. It will depend on the particular school and how they define domestic vs international and what documents you have to stay in the States legally. I would check up on this.
Also look into TASP. There are also lots of other summer programs, but the TASP and RSI are the hardest to get into.
I would start approaching any local university or college professors to see if they need help with research. Just email or call. It is often easier if you have an interesting project already in mind that they might want to support. Its not easy, but good luck
You’re a junior, so it’s great that you’re thinking about this so ahead of time and you’ve already taken the SAT (I’m always amazed when people do this, I didn’t start until March of my junior year :)) ) Anyway, because you’re a URM and first-generation, your SAT score won’t get your app immediately tossed away, but just to be safe aim for 2200+ (Yes, 20 points make that big of a difference). Harvard’s average is 2260 I think so if you can aim for that but it’s not the biggest deal if you don’t hit it. Your extracurriculars are decent, nothing amazing but not subpar either. If you want to really boost your chances up, become really close to your teachers this year so they can write you a stellar recommendation and make sure you write a really good essay. I wouldn’t recommend starting the essay until the summer before senior year though. I wrote mine in early summer and after only a couple months I’ve already developed much more sophisticated thoughts about the topic I wrote about – imagine how much you’ll change in a year! And try to win some national, or at least state awards. The AMC Math Competition is a good start but I’m warning you, it’s pretty darn difficult. You’ll have more chances with National Honor Society and AP Scholar awards later on, but don’t be afraid to enter some big competitions in the meantime! And always, always, ALWAYS keep your grades up – junior year is the most important! Overall I’d say you have better chances than average, but don’t get too hung up on one school, because it will really hurt if things don’t work out the way you plan. Best of luck!!
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African american and in a relatively poor economic situation
Welcome to Harvard
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“your SAT score won’t get your app immediately tossed away, but just to be safe aim for 2200+ (Yes, 20 points make that big of a difference)”
No.
OP, if I am correct you are African and not African American. You wouldn’t be considered a URM given that you are not a domestic citizen and I’m not sure your parents gaining citizenship would grant you access to the URM status. So, it’s safe to say you shouldn’t depend on the URM status.
For what it’s worth, I am an African American (born in the states) and a senior this year applying to college. 4.2 GPA, 2100+ GPA, Good ECs and Leadership. I was just deferred from Princeton Early Decision last week. Even with URM status it’s not a sure thing.
@NickFlynn @lilypippili I ended up getting 2260 on Dec. SAT and 2280 Superscore (710 CR, 800 M, 770 W). 
and @zabaan I’ve read elsewhere that you could classify yourself as African American because you’re African (born there) and American (citizen or legal resident). Much like a European immigrant to America is a European American.