@TessaGrays I’ll look into it. I’ll have to see if there’s a testing center around me because I kinda live in the middle of nowhere lol.
That’s a good question about him not being on your birth certificate. In that case, I would think you would be able to get a NCP waiver approved, although I’m no expert. Maybe as you narrow down some of your choices, you should contact the financial aid offices of some of your top choice colleges and ask about what they require for the NCP waiver to be approved. It would help to know in advance of applying.
If he’s not on the birth certificate, is not in contact with you, and his whereabouts are unknown, then you’d either need a third party to confirm the above or only submit your birth certificate. It depends on the college. Try thinking of a person to ask in case some colleges want that third party certification and plan to ask for the ncp waiver as early in the application cycle as possible.
^ I second this. As a person with a complicated parental history I found myself running out of time to deal with issues in order to submit stuff on time. Prepare to ask for third party statements from family friends, or some sort of “official” such as clergy, academic counselor/advisor, etc. The NCP is not a standardized form provided by the CSS, it will be different from each school.
A less selective Woman’s college in Massachusetts than Wellelsey is Mount Holyoke. They have a large percent of low and middle income students, as their financial aid is very generous. My daughters room mate picked Mount Holyoke over Wellesley because of better financial aid. It is not in a city though, but reading your stats, don’t overlook Mount Holyoke. They meet 100% of financial need, however they are not need blind. Wellesley is need blind and for wait list as well, so apply to both. I think Smith considers what you can pay more than they lead on. My daughter got 1450 SAT, with 8 ap’s, and got wait listed at Smith.
Coming back to this thread. Would Occidental be considered a match or reach?
Reading your profile, Trinity University is San Antonio seemed pretty perfect.
Campus is lovely, and overlooks downtown SA which is 5 minutes away. Good financial and potential merit aid with a huge endowment. You will receive an excellent education there, with average class sizes ~20 students. They also have one dorm, Hope House, where all the students are committed to volunteerism within the community.
Not sure if you have scheduled any campus visits, but those are important to help narrow down preferences for size of school, size of classes and campus feel/fit.
Good luck!
The key consideration at any school will be financial aid – how much is “grant” which does not have to be paid back vs. how much is student loans, work study job during the school year etc. Sit down with your mom and run the Net Price Calculator at the schools you have on your list – you need info on income and assets. That will tell you how much the school expects you to pay, and how much in loans etc. it expects. You may qualify for full tuition merit awards at some schools, but pay attention to the other costs – room and board is typically over $10,000 a year, travel costs – do you have to fly, drive etc.
In addition to Dickinson which has a strong international focus, you might consider Denison outside Columbus, Ohio with the Lugar program in Poli Sci which includes coursework and interning in DC or internationally. Denison is 17% first gen, 32% multiracial, and according the NYTimes article a while back, more economically diverse than a lot of small liberal arts colleges. With the middle 50% test scores being 28-32, you are just about in the middle, and as a student coming from a low income situation, that should be good place to be.
Knox College, in Illinois, might be a safety. We were very impressed with Knox on several visits, my kid reported the class he sat in on was flat out inspiring, and the school is investing in renovating and in new construction. Earlham in Indiana, about 45 minutes east of Indianapolis has a highly diverse student body, with a strong social justice focus arising from its Quaker heritage and should be a match/safety for you.
@ColdinMinny thanks, I’ll look into Trinity! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to tour many schools due to financial reasons (only U of Oklahoma and UT Austin), but I think I’d prefer a smaller student body.
@Midwestmomofboys Thank you for the help, it’s greatly appreciated! The first thing I do when researching a school is use their net price calculator, so I have a rough idea of what I’d pay at each school. I’ll look into your suggestions 
I may be way off base here, because my son’s stats don’t put him in reach of Ivies and their caliber school, but I know that many top tier schools offer free tuition (and more?) to students from families earning $60k or less. The main thing is you have to get in. You have several hooks: underrepresented state, low-income, Hispanic, first generation to go to college.
Oops, I just reread your post and saw you are looking for safety and match schools. Sorry! Check out the website imfirst.org. And then you can research financial aid and scholarship pages for the schools you’re interested in and run Net Price Calculators for the ones that sound good. I’ve also called financial aid and admissions offices and found them to be helpful for understanding different aspects of financial aid/scholarships/admissions.
Good luck!
There may still be time to apply to some schools’ fly-in programs for first-generation, low-income and underrepresented students of color. If there’s a school you’re interested in visiting, search their website for fly-in or call the admissions office. If they accept you for the fly-in, they will pay for your visit (including airfare).
I would think that bc of your hooks, Occidental College might be a strong match. They have a fly-in program. Not sure of deadline to apply. If you’re interested in Tulane University in New Orleans, their fly-in has rolling acceptances I think. It’s in early October.
@MomofKZ thank you for your help! Just signed up for imfirst