The time to apply is now...

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

pfft on the average GPA. my high school gpa was around 2.3. I got in. 'Course, my ACT was really good. and I had a semester of community college behind me when I applied (4.0 for college so far).

Anyway, even for non-members BYU is incredibly affordable. BYU for non-members is considerably lower than IN-state tuition at any non-community college school in Virginia, for example (well, witht he possible exceptioni of GMU). So you might want to send in your app anyway.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

costs (from the universities' web sites):

MSU: Total for two semesters: $13,711 (in-state)
UMich: (same costs for first two years, this cost appears to be for two semesters): $19,643
GMU: out of state tuition per term is $8,580.00 (YIKES!), in state is only $2,940.00. That's only tuition for one term though, the other numbers include room and board and fees. GMU will not save you money.
BYU NON-member expenses for two semesters (all costs): $16,072
BYU member costs for same: $14,366

You should convert than go to byu. It'll cost less than a $1000 more than MSU, and you get to hang out with TWGers. Even if you don't convert, it saves you money over UMich.

Oh, and the quality of the education is quite high. Favorably compares to the highest end "sub-ivy league" tier of schools (like VA Tech and UVA)

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

oh, and one more thing. I didn't see anything that made BYU any harder to get into than Umich or MSU. BYU looks at a lot of extra-curricular stuff, as well as the ecclesiastical recommendation (need not come from an LDS bishop)

[42]

Getting into BYU isn't like trying to get into Harvard, but it does have a bit more paperwork involved. The stats I posted are the average stats of incoming freshmen according to US News and World Reports.

Admittably, ecclesiastical endorsements are not unique to BYU, a lot of other private religious universities require them.