Help categorize these schools for me?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

I have a 3.8 GPA. I’m a Mechanical Engineering Major at a CC in Florida which is my home state. I’ve never bothered taking the SAT/ACT, but I don’t doubt that I could get +30 on the ACT if I need to take it, but it likely wont be required beings that I’ll have my AA by the time I transfer. I volunteer at a local Elementary school, I’m in my schools Honors Program, and Phi Theta Kappa. I’m a white, male. First generation college student. So on to my questions.

  1. Will it help my chances at admissions if I take and get good scores on the ACT/SAT even if they aren't required (my state schools mostly don't require them)?
  2. Do I need more EC's to be competitive for these schools?
  3. Will Internships only be helpful to my application if they're related to my major? I can't find any internships or anything like that for engineering/technology in my area.
  4. Can you list these based on the stats I provided weather these schools should be high reaches, reaches, matches, or safety -University of Florida -University of South Florida -University of Central Florida -Florida State University -Cornell University -Rice University -John Hopkins

Cornell and UF are my top picks and I’m open to any advice on increasing my chances for these two schools, but obviously I’ll be satisfied with any of these schools. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

2

Cornell Rice and JHU are high reaches, as they should be for everyone. UF appears to be a high match/low reach. I wouldn’t bother taking the ACT. However why didn’t you buckle up and take it in high school?

3

@studious99 I enlisted the day my junior year of high school ended and I thought I’d be in the Navy for the next 6 years in there Nuclear program, but then a month into basic training I had a problem with my eardrum rupturing and was discharged and told to come back after it healed and a doc checked it out. But I decided I’d rather just go to college. But yeah having the thought of going to the Navy in the back of my mind all through high school made me not prepare for college like I should have (I mean I still took AP and all honors courses, but my GPA was a 3.2 by graduation and I didn’t get involved in many clubs outside of JROTC). In high school I was a renown slacker. I missed weeks of class at a time but would show up and get 100’s on test day

4

Interesting. Makes much more sense. Yes, I stand by my original categorizations.