Please Help Me I am Really Confused

Hi everyone,

I’m a rising senior from Wisconsin planning to apply for Biomedical Engineering and I wanted an honest read on my chances for some schools.

Stats:

GPA: 3.74 (UW-style weighted/unweighted mix)

ACT: 25 (retaking soon)

School rigor: 4 APs (senior year), 3 Honors, 1 college credit (CCIH)

Coursework includes Physics (A / AB both semesters) and Chemistry (A / AB)

Extracurriculars:

Summer engineering internship at a company (this summer)

Research under a professor this summer (possible publication)

NHS member

HOSA member

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in progress (next school year)

10+ years of Mridangam (Indian classical percussion)

50+ volunteer hours (Hindu temple + cultural organizations)

Active in Indian/Carnatic music community

Intended major: Biomedical Engineering

Schools I’m considering:

UW–Madison

Purdue

UIUC

University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Illinois Tech

Indiana Bloomington

I know my ACT is low right now, but I’m retaking it.

My main questions:

How realistic are UW–Madison and Purdue for me right now?

How much does my EC profile help offset a 25 ACT?

Should I apply test-optional to some of these if my score doesn’t improve much?

What other colleges should I consider if I am trying to go into the Premed route with Biomedical Engineering?

Is there anything else I should do now to help my college profile and to maximize my chances of getting into these certain colleges?

To add on, UW Madison has been kind of a dream school for me and would love to go there. How much would I need to raise my ACT score for these types of schools and would love some insight into what I should do.

Any honest feedback would help a lot. Thanks!