GPA Requirements for the Top 50 Colleges (2026 Data)

GPA Ranges by Tier

These are approximate middle 50 percent unweighted GPA ranges for admitted students. Remember: 25 percent of admits fall below the lower number, and 25 percent score above the upper number. These ranges shift slightly year to year.

Tier 1: Ultra-Selective (Top 10)

Harvard University: 3.90 - 4.00

Princeton University: 3.88 - 3.99

MIT: 3.89 - 4.00

Stanford University: 3.90 - 4.00

Yale University: 3.88 - 3.99

Caltech: 3.90 - 4.00

UChicago: 3.86 - 3.99

Columbia University: 3.86 - 3.98

Duke University: 3.85 - 3.98

UPenn: 3.85 - 3.97

At these schools, an unweighted GPA below 3.85 is an uphill battle unless you have significant hooks or exceptional extracurriculars.

Tier 2: Highly Selective (11-25)

Northwestern University: 3.82 - 3.96

Johns Hopkins University: 3.80 - 3.96

Dartmouth College: 3.80 - 3.95

Brown University: 3.78 - 3.95

Cornell University: 3.75 - 3.95

Vanderbilt University: 3.80 - 3.97

Rice University: 3.78 - 3.96

Notre Dame: 3.78 - 3.95

Georgetown University: 3.76 - 3.94

Emory University: 3.75 - 3.93

Washington University in St. Louis: 3.78 - 3.96

USC: 3.72 - 3.93

Carnegie Mellon: 3.75 - 3.95

UCLA: 3.80 - 3.97 (weighted UC GPA is higher)

UC Berkeley: 3.79 - 3.96 (weighted UC GPA is higher)

The floor at these schools is roughly 3.75 for competitive unhooked applicants.

Tier 3: Very Selective (26-50)

University of Virginia: 3.72 - 3.93

University of Michigan: 3.70 - 3.92

NYU: 3.65 - 3.90

Tufts University: 3.70 - 3.93

University of Florida: 3.65 - 3.90

Boston College: 3.68 - 3.91

Georgia Tech: 3.70 - 3.93

UNC Chapel Hill: 3.68 - 3.92

Wake Forest University: 3.60 - 3.88

University of Rochester: 3.58 - 3.88

Brandeis University: 3.55 - 3.85

Boston University: 3.55 - 3.85

Northeastern University: 3.60 - 3.88

Villanova University: 3.55 - 3.85

William and Mary: 3.65 - 3.90

Case Western Reserve: 3.55 - 3.88

Tulane University: 3.50 - 3.82

Ohio State University (Honors): 3.65 - 3.90

Purdue University (Engineering): 3.60 - 3.90

University of Wisconsin-Madison: 3.55 - 3.85

At this tier, GPAs of 3.5 and above make you competitive, and strong test scores can compensate for GPAs on the lower end.

Important Caveats

Weighted vs unweighted. The ranges above are approximate unweighted GPAs. Schools that report weighted GPAs (many publics) will show higher numbers. A 4.3 weighted GPA might translate to a 3.8 unweighted.

Recalculated GPAs. Many selective schools recalculate your GPA using their own formula, stripping out non-academic courses and applying their own weights. Your school-reported GPA may differ from what colleges calculate internally.

Major-specific differences. Engineering, computer science, and business programs at many schools are more competitive than the university-wide average. A 3.7 might be below the engineering median at Georgia Tech but above the median for other programs.

Hooks change everything. Recruited athletes, legacies, first-generation students, and underrepresented minorities may be admitted with GPAs below the middle 50 percent range. The ranges above represent the general admitted population.

Using This Data

These ranges give you a starting framework. A student with a 3.7 unweighted GPA can now see that Tier 1 is a significant reach, Tier 2 is a moderate reach, and Tier 3 includes several realistic targets.

For a personalized assessment that goes beyond GPA, run your full profile through [AdmitOdds](https://admitodds.com). GPA is the starting point, not the whole picture.