I need to get into a respectable college!

Get an ACT prep book. Just like with sports, daily practice will help you improve. Do a couple of pages in each section daily until your next test date.

Get to know a couple of your teachers and your guidance counselor. You are going to need to have them on your side for selling your “I’ve come to my senses and have changed” story to colleges.

If your grades in your core academic classes are good this semester (and next) and your ACT goes up a couple of points, I would even suggest trying an application to St Olaf in the regular round.

I made the assumption that your parents had not had the opportunity to go to university in Africa. If I am wrong, I apologize.

You should run some net price calculators to see whether this is realistic. Many have been shocked by current costs of attendance.

In my state, the local CC have an arrangement with local 4yr schools for an auto transfer and at a total (4yr) cost of $30k. Might be better to family if it is an automatic

If you are interested in Science or Education, go to the free summer experience at Luther College
Apply early because it is free and many will want that. If you are not interested pass the info on to any friends and relatives.
https://www.luther.edu/diversity/programs/sumseminar/

For any middle school relatives and friends
http://simpson.edu/history/simpson-college-summer-camp/

If you can afford it, maybe you should look into a prep school for a year. That would save face and up your college chances.

Does your school have on-site admissions? If so, find out from the counselor what the requirements are for those schools. In state options may be SCSU, Minnesota-Mankato and Minnesota - Duluth. You can also look at WI with reciprocity such as Eau Claire and Lacrosse.

Congratulations on deciding to work harder and receiving better grades! You’re getting good, sensible advice here. I just want to add my two cents worth on the title of the thread. I humbly suggest you view the situation from the perspective that HOW you go to school is more important than WHERE you go to school. College is not the end game; the next 60-80 years are. You want to spend those (approximately) four years maturing and learning. You will benefit from learning deeply in one field or two and broadly across many areas. Fortunately the U.S. is blessed with many outstanding schools with amazing, hardworking students; amazing, hardworking faculty; and amazing, hardworking staff. To to school. Work hard. Embrace opportunities. Get to know your fellow students and your professors. Learn from all of them. Treat everyone with kindness and respect. Then those four years will be rewarding, and so will all the ones that follow.

If you thoughtfully weigh all of those things vs. going to a “respectable” school, I think you will conclude that the former is almost infinitely more important than the latter.

Good luck wherever you pursue your education!