OP said schools with less than 30% admit rate (you can quibble about how elite that is, if it matters)
My daughter got into NYU this year (16% admit rate] with 3.5uw, no hooks (but a kind of almost-hook, brilliant essay and good ECs). A friend of hers, don’t know about his essay but he has objectively better ECs and a 3.9 uw GPA, got rejected. It’s not just hooks but it is holistic. Incidentally a friend of my daughter got into Tulane this year too with a 3.6, also unhooked. They both did ED though; the rejected friend was RD.
I’m giving these examples simply because you can get into a selective college with a 3.5. But as my daughter’s first friend mentioned above shows, and many many posts on CC do too, it’s a long shot because many people with better stats get rejected. So treat as a reach.