I got rejected from my STATE school_ What am I doing wrong?

I think the OP is being too picky and may end up with no options. UF is not a safety for anyone because they do holistic admissions. Many top students are required to start in the summer or wait until spring. OP doesn’t like UCF, doesn’t like FAU. It’s fine to be picky when you have perfect scores and grades AND lots of money, but that isn’t the case here. Wanting to leave Florida just because you want to is a luxury this student doesn’t have. OP can leave Florida in 4 years.

Florida rewards residents with very low tuition and BF, some other aid (there is a state program like SEOG) for low income students. There are a lot of local scholarships from groups like the American Legion, women’s group, photography studios, and many can only be used at an instate school. They often aren’t large scholarships, but every little bit helps. There is New College for students who want that very tiny LAC experience. There is a Resident Grant to help resident afford private schools. There are some private schools that are low tuition; Flagler is only $16k for tuition, less the resident grant ($3k), so with a full Pell grant, an SEOG, a FSEOG, and the Stafford loans, most students can make it work.

If a student wants to give all that up to go OOS, that’s up to him, but he then, IMO, doesn’t get to complain that he can’t afford to go to college. He may not be able to afford the college he wants, but he can afford college.