Not only may merit aid be lower in RD compared to EA, the admit rates are also often lower.
The Regeneron and Robertson scholarships are very competitive and time intensive. I would prioritize the supplementals at the schools that offer you the best chance of admission and affordability (is your budget still in the $25K range?) Have you submitted your apps to all the schools that offer large NMF scholarships? If not, prioritize those.
Can you decrease the number of schools you are applying to? Has your list changed since this thread? Do I have a balanced list? [LA resident, 4.0, 36, NMSF, <$25k, biology or physics, pre-med]
Using the list from that earlier thread…I strongly encourage you make EA deadlines at Tulane, Richmond, CWRU, Miami, UMass (although I don’t think UMass will be affordable, so could be a good one to drop).
I thought you didn’t love UNC based on the other thread? If that is still the case, and it wouldn’t be affordable unless you win the Robertson, I would consider dropping it.
Is this thru HS or community college for academic credit? If not, you would put this in your Activities list even though the paper isn’t due until Nov. Can you push back the timeline on this paper? Whether or not the paper is actually submitted is not going to matter for your college apps.