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A good portion of the <= 3.7 GPA acceptances do not fit into these categories. I did not fit into any of the categories, had a 3.4/3.5 GPA, was not in top 10% of my HS class (basic public, not selective magnet), and had a 500 verbal SAT. Nevertheless, I was accepted to 4 of the 5 highly selective colleges to which I applied – Stanford, MIT, Brown, and Cornell. Many highly selective colleges are not obsessed with near-perfect stats. Instead they are looking for a group of great people who are likely to do amazing things in and out of the classroom, in college and beyond. They also consider your whole transcript. For example, which classes had the lower grades? Only freshman year? Electives unrelated to your major? College prep classes related to your major? Does your HS grade harshly? All of these can make an important difference in the decision. That said, yes the overall admit rate declines quite a bit at most highly selective colleges when you drop below a ~3.8 UW GPA.</p>