<p>My school’s average ACT is a 17, and average AP score on most exams are a 2 or a 1. The graduates who have went on to major in engineering at UT have had similar experiences realizing that our school is not up to par in academics. So at least know you are not alone in being unprepared. The graduates said they just put a lot more effort in their studies to be able to make above a 3.0, and that the support groups they’ve had on campus has helped a lot.</p>
<p>I’m sure CMU has a group specifically for disadvantaged people. Start by joining that and the people there can tell you how they got through it and will help you find other resources on campus to make better grades. Do you take advantage of the tutoring available? During high school, I was one of the few people who did this and therefore, one of the few people to pass my AP tests.</p>
<p>And about the maths: I just bought one of those Dummies books for Algebra and Calc to figure out everything I didn’t learn at school.</p>