<p>Ok, looking at Harvard’s common data set, it shows Harvard doesn’t view any category (academic rigor, GPA, test scores, essays, LORS) as important or very important when it comes to admission. They only “Considered” those categories. Common Data Set is filled out by each school, it appears to me Harvard adcom just didn’t want to answer those questions. </p>
<p>Berkeley is an UC, it is a lot more number driven and less hollistic than other privates. It would be hard for me to believe that they don’t care about ranking or GPA.</p>