For the record, rigor, like school attended is not of zero importance, but I suspect the 12 students you can name with GPAs under 3.6 got accepted to top 10 medical schools more so because of their 36+ MCATs (old scoring), their impressive ECs, strong LORs, well written and relevant PSs as to “why medicine”, match with school’s mission statement, nailed their interviews, and perhaps even a telephone call from a JHU faculty member/administrator were at the top of the determining factors as to their acceptances.