Commonn misunderstanding. The “awards” for the AP tests are also just about meaningless. Top tier adcoms will look at the actual scores and those related to your major had better be 5’s.
I think it may take a year or more for this to settle in, but I think the issue is less your father than your own understandiing, at this point. High GPA is not what gets you into these top tier private schools. It’s a bar and they do cherry pick, but based on so much more substance than that. You can’t begin to fathom this yet.
When you set a high goal, a top holistic college,you have to dig deep, deep into how these colleges present themselves, not just what you like or what you want. You need to look for their self image and the sorts of students they tout- it’s not just major and awards, it’s their involvement outside academics, as well. Then various personal attributes that come through or not. All in one app/supp. One record that either “shows” you’re the package- or not.
A top tier admit, even the dream school, isn’t some prize that only the worthy get. So you use what you learn about a Brown sort of school to identify what it is and find the many, many other colleges that do offer this.
And if you go to UF, you can focus on doing your best, shining, and doing a grad program at one of the more selective universities.
All in good time.