<p>No, you are correct that colleges view applicants in terms of the environment they grew up in. Certainly they will take poverty and extreme financial hardship into account. </p>
<p>gibby has a point though; your ACT places you around the 97th percentile. Harvard accepts something like 800 students early action, and these are some of the most academically outstanding of the million or so people applying to college each year. There have definitely been people accepted with worse test scores than you, but generally they are outstanding in their extracurriculars or overcame immense hurdles. If you think you fit into this category, you should consider applying early.</p>