<p>Your GPA is certainly holding you back
BUT if you, your teacher, or your counselor writes the dilemma you and your family encountered and how you had to work during highschool to support your family, it would make them regard your low GPA legitimate. It even may let them think your a good guy supporting your family.
And for ACT, I would try to take another one, I mean 23 is not too bad for the university your applying to, but its also not that great. I recommend you to study pretty hard (like an hour per day) and score around 28~30.</p>
<p>To be dead honest, you still might not get accepted even after having a legitimate excuse for your low GPA, though it is some what unlikely. However, if you score 28~30 on ACT or 1850 or above in SAT you might get in pretty easily. The university considers GPA, Test scores, and Class Rank very important, and it seems to me your lacking all three. All for now is to raise your test score, and prepare a truely clear excuse for your low GPA. </p>
<p>Can you tell me how much you’ve worked to support your family? This can be a big factor.</p>