The number of schools may be part of your problem. You filled out federal financial aid forms? Did you know that every school knows every other school you are applying for aid and takes the order you add them as a sign of your preference. So a school like Brandeis for which you are a middle of the road candidate sees that you have no connection to the area, have no demonstrated interest, they may say she is just fishing. They worry about their yield too
Did you send emails last month to the LACs indicating you were still interested, why and what you had accomplished recently
@Saphireny I spent A TONNNN of time doing college apps and I put a lot of effort into applying. I started in the summer and I was not busy in the summer, so I did a lot of research about the colleges that I was applying to. I did a TON of time researching school to make sure I liked them. I also visited a few, so I would know the feel and so I could see if I was happy there. I applied to aid only to the private schools, since I knew that I would not receive any aid at the public schools in CA. I actually did not know about the preference FAFSA until I filed it:/. I filed it in February, since my families taxes needed to be recalculated due to some issues. Only a few schools asked “why do you want to go here” and I wrote genuine, well researched essays about why I wanted to attend those schools. I applied to Stanford and Tufts, since my parents were pushing me to apply. I would love to go to those schools, but I knew that I would not get in. I did not send the emails out recently though!
I am not questioning you on WHY rather that when they see how many places you applied to the schools may get the wrong impression. How many FA schools did you apply?
I think it is very unfair that people who ask for FA have this information given out about them while people who do not apply for FA can apply to as many schools as they aspire to and no one would know. This undermines the need blind nature of every school that is need blind
I think I applied for FA to about 13 schools and that is more or less average. A lot of people at my school applied to that many. I applied to a lot of schools because I was paranoid and my parents pushed me to apply to some of the schools that I did. The 2 schools that accepted me, sent me the financial packages and they were so low!! One of the schools offered me 4K a year (59K a year price) and another school offered me 10K a year, but it still would be 45K. I am happy that I didn’t apply for FA to a lot of schools, since I am receiving barely any.
I thought you were a great shot for Brandeis with your bunch of volunteer and social work, and your background is unique too which Brandeis is craving for
@rotckid I also thought that I would be a great fit for Brandeis. The decision really surprised me! I might try to transfer to Brandeis for Junior year. I really, really wanted to go, so the decision crushed me I hope this week will somehow get better
You still have a shot at Dickinson and Muhlenberg if there’s nothing wrong with your application and it’s just bad luck.
Did you ask a trusted teacher or former GC to review your file?
Did youmake the appointment with your guidance counselor?
Usually it is recommended to file FAFSA as early as possible, but if your EFC is too high and you only qualify for loan, wouldn’t it be better to wait until you get your acceptances in? Most private schools have extra FA forms anyway, right?
@myos1634 I made an appointment an I finally can go today. I will see what she says. @mommdc My parents pushed me to file FAFSA and I was right about not recivig any aid( only a few loans). I sent in the CSS profile to private colleges and I sent all the extra documents.
Not true, @SaphireNY. FAFSA is submitted to schools in batches of ten. So you can apply to 100 schools - all any college is ever going to see are the other nine schools in its own batch of ten.
As for order indicating preference - this is true when you apply to your own state schools - you should list your first choice first. Beyond that, list all the schools alphabetically and don’t worry about it.
I did that. Also I split the schools so say I was applying to 14. I did 7 and 7. The ones with later deadlines later and most of my schools were comparable to each other which is important. Some schools still infer when you do alphabetical I have seen on various advice sites. Also there is something about when you update that I am not clear if the first batch know then
@saphireny I talked to her today and she looked over my file l she said they it’s ok. She basically implied that I was whiney and that I should not complain about it. She didnt really want to talk about it though…
Going to a college whilst planning to transfer out before you even start attending isn’t a good idea, and I doubt that’s what OP wants after the hard work spent over the last four years and wanting to have the desired college experience. What you’re suggesting is definitely possible, but I think it’s better off as the last case scenario. Also, I doubt she would chose a community college over UCR…
I am just as shocked as you are that you didnt get in with such amazing stats. I have 1990 SAT, 4.2 UC gpa (3.9 unweighted), and got into UC davis and Irvine, and wait listed at UCSB and UCSD, so its not like you weren’t good enough. I know how horrible it feels to give up all other parts of life for school just to get turned down (I was hoping for UCSB), it is the worst feeling ever, but just know that you worked so hard and accomplished so much, and its not your fault. Sometimes these things can occur randomly (which could make you feel even worse). Don’t loose hope though, if you have any more schools you are waiting for I’m sure you’ll get in somewhere, you sound like a great applicant. Good luck, i hope everything works out for you!
I hope this week will somehow get better 
Let us keep our fingers crossed that you’ll get sufficient financial aid.