1 year left to make up for lost time

<p>I'm a third year this fall, with the thought of eventually applying for grad school in the back of my head this whole time. I guess I hadn't thought about grad school preparation as much as I should have, and now I feel like an idiot.</p>

<p>My GPA is pretty bad. 3.53 I also had some D's and an F from way back when I was stil attending the local high school. I had to retake those. My engineering core GPA can still be salvaged, but my basic program is pretty much in the toilet.</p>

<p>I made no attempt to further my relationships with my professors. And I never tried to do research independently, but was rather just another helping hand who followed instructions. I don't think I went to a single office hour.</p>

<p>Those students with the intent of grad school, and who are a lot better than me at planning ahead, probably have better GPAs and developed close relationships with their professors. I'm worried about the amount of initiative that I've shown in my last couple of years. With that said, I would like any advice (doesn't matter how obvious) that could help me get in a better position than i'm in right now</p>