Trying to have a chance at Cornell or Columbia. What should I do?

<p>I want to turn my life around and apply to:</p>

<p>Cornell (Goal)
Columbia
UPenn (Do they have a good engineering school?)
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Georgia Tech
RPI</p>

<p>for a transfer within two years. My race is African American.</p>

<p>I am going to transfer into Stony Brook or Syracuse next year. My teacher told me if I go to either SB or Syracuse and get atleast a 3.8+ GPA I have a shot at them. (I know I can get the GPA) Is this true? I am starting to build up my EC's. I don't know much about EC's though :/ Does research program count as a EC? What kind of EC's should I be looking to participate in? I am majoring in Electrical Engineering.</p>

<p>Please repost on the Transfer Students forum.</p>