<p>From the information you’ve listed, I’d say BU would be a pretty big reach.</p>
<p>You’re ACT scores would seem to put you easily in the top quartile of their 2009 admissions profile. BU requires the ACT writing test, but you didn’t list that score (or SAT with 2 subject tests).</p>
<p>They admitted around 55% of applicants, but around 60% of their 2009 admitted class was in the Top 10% of their class (you didn’t mention your relative rank within your class) and had an A- GPA (I’ll assume that;s around 3.7+)</p>
<p>I can’t tell you BU’s bias regarding GPA vs Test Scores, but a lot of schools (particularly East Coast prestigious schools) seem to have a strong bias toward GPA first, Test Scores 2nd. You might want to ask in the Boston University specific section or even try to speak with someone in the BU’s admissions department for a long distance consult. i think you can explain part of your GPA with special circumstances, but it can’t be ignored as a big factor.</p>