Engineering Graduate School with Lower GPA

<p>Hey everyone, I am graduating next december (2013) with a materials engineering degree. I am very interested in continuing on to graduate school in MSE. My gpa is lower than I would like it to be (currently 2.85). I am taking the GRE in march, and I have had one research internship and one industry internship. I work in a lab doing research during the semester, and I am a personable person. I have many leadership positions and I can definitely get three good letters of recommendation. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to improve my chances for admissions. I know that top schools are out of the picture, so does anyone have any suggestions for good middle tier schools to look into? Thanks so much!</p>