Current junior interested in biology research. I don’t know much about schools outside CA, so I’m seeking advice on where I can consider applying to. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Demographics:
-Asian female, upper-middle-class
-Large public school
Stats:
-4.0 UW GPA, 4.64 W (orchestra dropped my weighted GPA)
-SAT: 1560
-PSAT: 1500
-SAT II Biology Molecular: 800
-AP CSP (5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP Euro (5)
Currently taking: IB Calculus, IB English 1, IB History of the Americas, IB Spanish 1, IB Bio/Chem 1, AP Statistics, Concert Orchestra
“Awards”
-regional medals in Science Olympiad (we qualified for state for the first time in 4 years!)
-an engineering high school leadership award (& a fellowship related to the award)
-nominated for a service award for my city (delayed results b/c of COVID)
-Girl Scout Silver Award
-completed COSMOS this past summer for biology
-Certificate of Merit level 10 for the piano, CM conventionist my sophomore year (probably won’t use this on my college apps)
EC’s:
- Science Olympiad (9th -present): president of my school’s club for this year and elected president for next year, some regional medals, re-established study sessions & a training regimen for my team
- Girl Scout (3rd - present): Silver Award; my Gold Award has been approved, but I won’t be able to finish it this summer b/c of COVID
- Science Peer Tutoring Center (10th - present): currently a student manager and will be again next year
- Medical free clinic intern (10th - present) (I’m not pre-med, just doing it for the human part)
- Orchestra (9th - present): current concert violist, will be next year’s chamber viola section leader
- Orchestra Student Council member (9th - present): organize student socials, publicity, and set up concerts
- Tri-M Music Honors Society (10th - present): current VP, elected president for next year
All my programs and projects for the summer are either canceled thanks to COVID or moved to online, so I still don’t know what I’ll be doing.
My dream school is MIT (lol), but I’m applying to all the UC’s; I really love UCSD and Cal. As mentioned, I don’t know schools outside CA, so I’m looking for any advice on more places I can look at. I’m worried I don’t have enough safeties or that I’m neglecting small schools that can help me get to a decent grad school.
Preferences: urban, liberal, LGBTQ+ friendly; undergrad research opportunities; financial aid, even at my economic level 
Thanks to whoever read this!
Also I’m a bit worried because my Gold Award is related to race/politics and the take I have on my medical internship is more related to politics and race. Will controversial topics make me a bad college candidate or less likely to get accepted to STEM programs?
Your topics are not per se controversial. Why do you think they would make you a “bad” college candidate? What would you expect universities of the calibre you want to attend think is a “good” candidate? These aren’t meant to be snarky questions- they are serious.
Re: financial aid. There are 2 reasons colleges give you money: if you have financial need (financial aid) and if you have something they want enough to try and incentivise you to pick them (merit aid). By your post, financial sounds unlikely. Merit aid comes in 2 flavors: regular and jumbo (there is a better word for it, but I’m blocking it atm). Regular ones give scholarships of varying levels, and often some extra perks.The thing is, the ones that will want you the most are typically not the fancy names that most high-achiever high school students want. Which, of course, is why they are willing to subsidize your college education: they want to attract more students like you, raise their stats, raise their perceived prestige level. Vandy is the poster child for this approach- and evidence that it works. The Jumbo ones (Stamps, Robertson, Jefferson, etc) are super competitive- but worth looking into.
Your stats are as good as stats can get. At this point you can conceivably get into any school you apply to, but of course a huge amount of that is pure, unadulterated chance. Focus on writing a passionate, human essays, and get recommendations from teachers you love, and that will tip the scales in your favor.
Of course I can’t guarantee you’d get into something like MIT, which routinely turns away prodigies, but you have quite the fighting chance.
I see you listed that you like research schools; I’m from the east coast so I am biased, but some of the very best research schools I know of include Georgia Tech, Princeton, University of Michigan, Rice… there are a ton to choose from.
You can get away with one safety, a few fits, and a range of “reaches.”
I would recommend that you visit schools to get an idea of what you like, but that’s not so possible right now 
Make a list in descending order of the things you value most out of a school. Location? Weather? Food? Academics? Teacher ratio? Research available? Sometimes the last thing you consider makes the biggest difference.
Speaking from experience (going through financial aid as we speak) it seems like you probably have little chance at receiving financial aid. If your parents make more than 175,000 your chances scrape 0% for anything regardless of family situation. You could certainly get merit scholarships though. Make sure to check out what schools offer very early on as some schools have suspiciously early deadlines for scholarship applications. You can apply for them before you are accepted.
good luck
@collegemom3717 They’re a bit controversial as some people disagree with my viewpoints and I struggled to get my GA proposal approved. Thank you for the info! I will definitely look into those schools.
@Dawert26 Thank you for your feedback, and good luck to your financial aid as well I think the advice on listing what I value and scholarships will be really helpful soon.
So it’s not the topics that are controversial but your views on those topics
The thing is, your essays are not (well, should not be!) about your positions on topic x. They should be about you and where you are going. Believe it or not it is the same advice for people who want to write about their major health issue, family trauma, abuse, sexuality, etc.: those things are the catalyst for the essay, not the point or the focus.
So the struggle to get your GA approved b/c your views on X don’t align with theirs taught you something about navigating a project through difficult waters / helped you develop your negotiation skills / led you to question and refine your understanding of the topic in a more holistic way- and going forward you are taking that newly developed piece and applying it to the next stage of this project. Etc. (obvs, just an example!).
if your essay is about your opinions on the topic - whether your opinions are controversial or not- you will have missed an opportunity to add more to the AOs understanding of what you bring to their community as a person. Think of your application as a whole: each element tells a part of the story, adds to the persuasiveness of the case for you to be the one who gets the offer.
It’s why you help the people who write your LoRs, by reminding them of times where you stood out in your experience with them, telling them what you are looking for from your next step- and drawing a link between the two (you do this by giving it to them in writing as long before the deadline as you can- many high schools and/or teachers have a form for this- following up near the deadline, a thank you email when they are done and another email or letter when you have your results) (this is true for grad school apps & job applications as well).
Then you look at the story all those elements have told- the picture they have painted of you, and think about what’s missing- and you knit that into your essay. It’s not the cause or the issue that’s important, it’s who you are and what you are doing that matters.