<p>Realistically, a 1.6 GPA is going to be a hard sell to any four year university.</p>
<p>You likely have to start at a community college, take the preparatory courses for your major (math, physics, English composition, etc.), and then transfer to a four year school. Your transfer prospects (including how selective a school you have a realistic chance to transfer to) will be largely determined by how well you do at the community college, though you should be aware that the most transfer-friendly schools are public universities, particularly those in the same state as your community college. Many public universities have transfer credit equivalency listings so that you know what courses to take at your community college. Example: [MSU</a> 2010-2012 Catalog - Admission as an Undergraduate Student](<a href=“http://www.montana.edu/wwwcat/cat2010/admission/admit12.html]MSU”>http://www.montana.edu/wwwcat/cat2010/admission/admit12.html) .</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it does look like Montana community college offerings in math and physics may be limited (e.g. no math beyond calculus 2, when calculus 3, linear algebra, and differential equations are typically needed), based on the above link. So you may have to try transferring at the sophomore level instead of the junior level, but your high school record is more likely to be looked at then (although if you do get a 4.0 senior year, that may help).</p>
<p>Among Montana schools, Montana State - Bozeman has mechanical engineering. Among South Dakota schools, South Dakota Mines and South Dakota State have mechanical engineering. If you can get into any of these schools as either a transfer or freshman, you should be able to get a decent education in mechanical engineering (they meet [url=<a href=“http://www.abet.org%5DABET%5B/url”>http://www.abet.org]ABET[/url</a>] accreditation).</p>
<p>Use the net price calculator at each school’s web site to get a financial aid estimate.</p>