What counts as a low GPA for selective instituions.

I'll share a secret. Your GPA threshold for selective T20 schools depends on the high school you attend. I went to 2 high schools. at my public school, 38 out of 330 had a perfect 4.0 GPA, and like 10 kids total out of 330 got into schools like Yale, Columbia, Stanford, UPenn, Dartmouth, UChicago. At my private boarding school, only 2 students out of 208 had a GPA above 95 out of 100 because there was severe grade deflation and compaction. If you had a 93 you were considered high honors, and if had a 90, you were honors level. About 60 students got into Ivys and another 60 got into Elite colleges or Top Liberal art schools like Colby, Amherst, and Williams. So 1/2 the graduating class got into T20-T25 schools with the range of GPAs being 89-91. There were more legacies than recruited athletes at T20 schools. The recruited athletes ended up for the most part at T50 schools like Lehigh, Penn State, or Villanova.

So don't get caught up in the GPA dilemma, colleges care less about your GPA than your course rigor and evidence of intellectual vitality and high AP/IB test scores, and amazing ECs.

You would be surprised how many top boarding school seniors get into T20 schools with lower GPAs and lower SAT and ACT test scores, it's mind-boggling.

If you ever watch YouTube videos about the host asking "What is your SAT/ACT score and GPA that got you into Harvard?", you will never see an Andover/Choate/Exeter/Deerfield/St.Pauls/Groton/Hotchkiss alum in those videos. But all the White and Asian public school kids are eager to flex their 1570 SAT or 35 ACT scores.

Good luck