Getting into a good school for MS in Mechanical Engineering

Hello,

I'm currently a third-year mechanical engineering student at a school that's not really well known for engineering. As I'm ending my third-year my goals have changed. As such I've decided that I want to get a masters degree and do a thesis. In addition, I would like to go to a school that's more well known and dedicated to engineering than my current school. My current top choice is UCLA for its courses, research labs, and its proximity to companies I'm intersted in working for.

I could realistically graduate with a 3.7 to 3.9 GPA, but my main worry is my lack of experience and lack of professors that could write me a strong letter of recommendation. Most of my current experience comes from a handful of club projects and unfortunately I wasn't able to get my first internship this summer. I have a year and a half left before I graduate as I'm also pursuing a minor in phsyics out of pure interest.

I know that research experience is important for a thesis based masters, however, I would perfer to focus on getting an internship first as I would like to work as an engineer for 2 to 3 years before I apply to the MS program. My plan is to work on personal projects, continue with club projects, and try to volunteer at a lab over this summer to get part-time internships during the next fall and spring semesters. Then, I would get an internship for the next summer break while also volunteering at a lab and either do an internship or volunteer at a lab during my last semester. I would try to go for internships that are more R&D focussed, but start off with whatever I can get for my first internship. I was thinking that once I graduate, I could get a job that's more R&D focussed and/or volunteer at a lab while working full-time. I also thought of making my year-long senior project more R&D focussed.

My question is... What are your thoughts on a plan like this to get into a thesis based MS for Mechanical Engineering at a good school like UCLA? Do you think it would work? How could I improve my plan to increase my chances? Or do you think that a year and a half left in undergrad is not enough time to get enough experience?

I would appreciate any insight on this.