<p>You can apply to a lot of reach schools that can afford great financial aid packages, as long as you include a few solid, affordable safeties. With your stats, your state flagship (wherever you live) will probably be happy to have you, and might well offer you a nice scholarship. I would be amazed if any UCs reject you, and think that Berkeley and UCLA are the only ones that aren’t safe for you. If you aren’t a CA resident, then you’ll have to explore other options financially. Stanford is a long-shot for anyone, but your stats make it a plausible reach for you. USC,Tulane and University of Miami are known for being generous to high-stat applicants. Is that $23k your family’s “EFC” or simply what you think your parents will be willing to pay? Occidental met our EFC, and my son’s stats weren’t close to yours. I think you’d have an excellent chance at both Claremont-McKenna and Pomona, and they are both likely to meet need (CMC is known for having very solid resources available for aid packages, and might not be quite the reach that Pomona is). I might add Rice, Vanderbilt, and WashU(St.Louis) to your list of possibilities, also.</p>