I answered a question on Quora (well, I guess I didn’t really answer the question, but spoke to the ideas behind it) about getting into a top university without straight A’s. You can read the question here.
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First and foremost, don’t stress. This won’t make or break your life.
I don’t know what those institutions require for admission but I have another idea: don’t spend your time trying to get approval and acceptance from academic institutions but instead go create value for yourself and the world.
Our world is awash in official accolades and credentials and padded resumes. You’ll realize when you get into the world outside the education bubble none of that matters much for value creation and personal fulfillment.
Identify what you want in life, identify the obstacles to getting it, and create challenges and habits to help you overcome those obstacles. All of this can be done without the official sanction of formal institutions.
If what you want is to be a professor or to work within academia, then of course that’s the way to go. Or if you simply wish to enjoy college as a very costly consumption good, go for it. But the notion that you must jump through the right hoops to earn the approval of X or Y university is backwards. You want skills and experiences and knowledge and a network. You’re the customer. See if you can think of the best, most effective, quickest, least expensive, and most enjoyable way to get them. The question isn’t whether those universities will take you, the question is whether you’ll deem them worthy of your time and money.
Whatever path you take, good luck!