@gibby I’m not arguing that a 3.77 will be difficult for Harvard; I’m saying that it is not “mediocre.” Plenty of kids whose “dream school” is far less selective than HYPMS would be thrilled with a 3.77. Despite what one thinks from reading College Confidential, the vast majority of college-bound students are targeting schools other than HYPMS.
BTW, I was not chancing the OP, as I view chancing for any school that has a <10% acceptance rate as folly.
Having said that, commenting on the GPA out of context assumes facts not in evidence. As you mentioned, there are cases where that GPA will place a student in the top 10%. e.g. Andover, Exeter, many HS’s outside the US, etc. But as I also said, the OP vanished, so the whole original post may have been a hit-and-run posting.