With a good essay, I’d expect the OP to be admitted anywhere he/she applies.
No one has a “golden ticket.” Nor should they be told they can have their pick of colleges. You have a process to go through, to make your best presentation. @collegegrrl you still need to be on your toes with your applications. You may not need tribal enrollment proof. That most often happens for colleges in parts of the country with very high N.A. populations. Yes, you can usually register with half, fepends on the tribe, but as you say, you have no cultural ties to show the colleges. Not too late to develop these.
Please be sure to have happy, affordable safeties. Be sure your ECs are balanced. You need to sell yourself on your abilities, not disabilities. The essay needs to show more than the challenges. Overall, you need to learn what “match” is, especially for highly competitive colleges like Barnard (other thread.) So don’t just look at what you like about a school, but what it is they value and look for in applicants. Being as informed as you can will serve you.
No, it’s not needed to retake. This idea and the question about what makes one URM just suggest you have some digging to do, to sharpen your approach.
Think about it. Because you have the basics.
Check out Dartmouth…they are have a Native American Program.
https://students.dartmouth.edu/nap/about/vision-mission
@collegegrrl Don’t feel bad about checking the Native American box. You either have to apply as advantaged (checking the NA box) or disadvantaged (not checking the NA box). There is no “neutral” box, it’s just the way the system is. You seem more than qualified for any school in the country, so apply wherever you see a fit and know you are deserving of whatever opportunities you get.
Most professionals would love to have the whole narrative to help sell a strong candidate.
But if you get the prerequisite materials for documentation, yes it’s a huge hook.
I don’t for a second believe it won’t move a top candidate to the accepted pile.
Yes, it’s more than wanting to check a box, all other things being equal.
Also, hpys is not an automatic at all.
If you apply to several highly respected universities, say many in the usnwr top 50 unis and too 30 lac range, personally one would expect some really good results.
Due to OP’s NA and “low-income rural family” status hyps would indeed be the cheapest and best option.
They would be fine but it’s not completely accurate. Any wealthy private schools of academic note and most selective admissions would be meets full need. Northwestern Duke Georgetown BC ND just off the top of my head and all of the top LACs as well.
The OP asked about public schools in VA, so I’m not sure how this became a discussion about HYPS,., type colleges. Whether public colleges consider race in admissions varies by state. VA is one of the states that often does favor URMs. I believe all of the colleges the OP listed except GMU favor NA applicants.
If the OP is looking for low cost options, she could pursue merit scholarships, need based aid, or a combination. There are likely to be several possibilities that are near $0 cost to parents. Some of the listed colleges have scholarship options that may give additional “enrichment” allowance or other perks beyond near $0 cost to parents.
With multiple C’s, I certainly wouldn’t assume HYPS is a likely. However, I also wouldn’t assume rejection… There is not enough information to estimate chances well. Of course this is irrelevant unless the OP is interested in HYPS.
@data10 OP did ask whether NA is a URM and how that might play at more selective schools