How do I prepare for the IB process as an incoming Sophomore with low GPA?

Hi, I am an incoming sophomore in HK wanting to break into IB here. I currently hold a 3.09/4.3 GPA from a target school, and I am almost certain it will continue to fall. For HS, I graduated with the International Baccalaureate diploma with a full score of 45/45, so I think I am not an idiot but rather my attitude is wrong. I didn't really expect undergrad to be filled with boring rote memorization and regurgitation classes; I was expecting more critical thinking.

Anyhow, I'll try to achieve a better GPA to at least get past the AI, but in the event I can't, I hope I can hedge my chances a different way, and that's where I need advice.

A short story to beat around the bush. I approached a distinguished entrepreneur in semester 1, merely to just learn from him, but around the 1-hour mark, he told me: "I know what you kids want. You want an internship, and I can lend you my credit for it, but if I do so, will you burn it, and if you burn it, how will you repay me?" This obviously left me pondering for a very long time, and I decided to try to prove myself via side-projects, which have thus far been okay but not a surefire way to get me into a BB. Now that I am going to be a sophomore and have a low GPA, I will need to start networking extensively. I already know what to do, but I would love to have some preliminary, anecdotal advice from people here. 

So really my question is: "let's say I wanted to borrow your credit, meaning that I would want you to pass my resume to the recruiting team, what sort of person would I have to be or what qualities would I have to have in order for you to lend me your credit?"

Any answers other than "get a higher GPA" will be nice — I am not really keen on being the brightest person.