Is NYU or USC a dream or a possibility?

Hello all. I’ve just finished up my junior year and am in the process of absolutely narrowing down my college list. Though I may not know all of the schools I want to apply for yet, I do know what my ideal schools are: NYU, USC, and UF (in-state). Please chance me for these schools (the other schools I’m potentially interested in are at the bottom).

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 30 (35 E, 30 R, 27 M, 28 S) - retaking June 6
SAT: taking in June
SAT II: waiting for US History score. Will be taking Literature and Biology E.
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95 (I have received ONE B in Algebra I that I shouldn’t have gotten… don’t get me started on Florida EOCs)
Weighted: 4.5
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): was 5/330 but then went down to 7/330… we’ll see when grades are finalized
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World (5), AP English Lang (4/5), APES (3/4), APUSH (5), Government, Macroeconomics, Calculus AB, Art History*
predicted score
*
senior year courses
Florida tests: Algebra I (4), Algebra II (5), Geometry (5), Biology (5), FSA (5)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): nothing besides school stuff

Other awards:

Academic Achievement Freshman Multimedia (9)
Academic Achievement Spanish III Honor (10)
Academic Achievement English II Honors (10)
Top Ten (10)
Top 10 (11)

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-Yearbook - staff writer (10), Editor-in-Chief (11, 12), copy editor (11). I’m VERY involved with this club and journalism/communications has become a passion of mine due to this club. I could go on for days about how much this club has impacted my life.
-NHS - member (10, 11), President (12)
-Creative Writing Club - founder and President (10)
-Environmental Club - co-founder and VP (12)
-Odyssey (online publication outside of school) - community Editor-in-Chief (11, 12)
-Chain Reaction (local volunteer organization) - 12
applied for a local youth leadership group, waiting to hear back
-involvement/volunteering with youth group
-Will be in the ACE program at my school (ACE = Advanced Career Experience). My school is “special” because it offers different career programs, and each student is required to choose one to partake in for their four years of high school (I’m in the multimedia program, shocker). As a senior, you have the opportunity to kind of intern with local companies that have to do with your career program. However, being that all of the multimedia options are VERY lame, I’m doing an ACE class for yearbook and will be working more in-depth with the yearbook outside of journalism class.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
-Have not gotten these yet, but I know for certain I will at least be getting an outstanding rec from my yearbook advisor/English II honors teacher who LOVES me (she told me to go to Yale lol).
-Counselor rec will be weak because A) the counselors at my school are awful and B) she’s new/doesn’t know me very well.
-Not sure who to get the third rec from yet…

Other

Applying for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: I want to major in Journalism or Communications with a double major in Business. I feel like my trend of involvement/leadership shows that these majors are something I’m very interested in and passionate about.
State (if domestic applicant): Florida
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (#1 in my county, but that doesn’t mean much because I’m in one of the poorest, if not the poorest, county in Florida)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 80k - 100k. This fluctuates a lot because my dad lost his job for four years due to the recession, got a new job, and was then let go after one year of employment. My mother is also looking to quit her (much hated) job this fall in hopes of becoming more of a “serious” writer… idk what’s going to happen fam.
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Notes:
I’m a VERY strong writer and believe that I will have great essays (working on those this summer). Considering my majors will have a lot to do with media, I plan to (maybe) write about my struggle with an eating disorder, how I overcame it, how I think think the media has good and bad influence over our lives (for me, this would include my eating disorder but also how I’ve been able to express myself creatively with media/how media has shaped my life), etc, etc. Not 100% developed, but you get the idea. I may change my idea, but that’s what I have right now.

Schools I’m looking at: USC (#1 west coast), NYU (#1 east coast) (cannot double major outside of one school, so I’d most likely either double journalism and environmental science at CAS or major in communications with a minor in the business of entertainment at Steinhardt), UF (#1 in-state), University of Miami, Tulane University (no journalism major, so I’d double communications and business), Chapman University, Pomona College, FSU (safety - don’t really want to go here), and University of South Florida (safety - don’t really want to go here). Still looking for more solid journalism/communications schools, preferably ones with decent FA, so let me know if you know of any!

Again, everything can change, but this is where I’m at right now. Let me know if I have a chance!

PS - does anyone know how non-Florida schools look at Florida EOCs/FSA tests? I haven’t heard anything about these so some info would be GREAT!

I would say Pomona is your highest reach.

NYU and USC are reaches, but definitely possible. That 30 ACT is not bad at all, but definitely can be improved.

If you are in need of financial aid/grants I would write off NYU. USC would definitely be a financial reach too.

I agree that Pomona is by far the highest reach school on your list. But if you got in there, they would be more generous with FA than USC.

I applied to NYU with a 31 ACT superscored (got a 30 in April, retook it in June with a 29). I was waitlisted, but my GPA was lower (3.8 UW), and I only took 3 AP’s. I say you have a good chance.

I don’t have experience with the other school’s but I just though I’d throw in my two cents.