Did you talk with a school counselor? They usually have insights to admission standards and acceptance criteria (which can vary from year to year).

I would say, look at the application fee and think of it like money you are betting at the gambling tables….are you OK if you lose the bet? In other words, are you willing to gamble the money on the application fee (early or not) to apply to this school.

And then leads to the follow on question, what is Plan B if you lose the bet. I would suggest considering a community college nearby. If you don’t get in the Univ at Buffalo, you can probably get into the comm coll…prove yourself to be college material by doing well. The first 2 years of undergraduate school are mostly general education courses that are fairly similar whether at comm coll or 4-year schools. Chances are the local comm coll has ties with the Univ of Buffalo and can readily facilitate transferring you to the Univ. And, the cost for the courses may be lower at the comm coll, saving you some money to put against your future fees at Univ at Buffalo.

Hope this helps. Best wishes for your endeavors.

SUNY Buffalo does allow their early decision applicants to apply to other schools, so if you don’t get into Buffalo, you can have some back-ups in place.