<p>It looks like you are in the top 10% of your class and UT-Austin has a very good CS department. So you have an excellent safety there. </p>
<p>I think for financial aid they do take into account the number of children in college. So it could depend on how old your siblings are. </p>
<p>I was curious as to why you chose SMU. It has been many years ago but I went there as a scholarship recipient because my parents’ income was low. However, too late I realized that the other students had large allowances and spent lots of money on clubs, restaurants, sorority/fraternity dues, clothing, etc. So I felt really out of place and transferred to UT after a year. SMU does have a beautiful campus and the academics are good. But I would caution you to visit and make sure you will feel comfortable with the social scene. </p>
<p>How did you come up with U of Rochester, Richmond and Redlands for your list? For CS I would suggest looking at Carnegie-Mellon, U of Illinois, MIT and the other “tech” schools. You could also check out some of the “tech” schools (such as RPI) where the males vastly outnumber the females. You might have a better chance at getting merit aid there. The downside is that you will be a double-minority (? not sure how to say that) being female and URM and I’m not sure if that will fit you socially. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>