I know my grades are on the lower end but I have really good EC’s and well written niche essays.
GPA: 3.83
ACT: 31
EC: Intern for congressman, created youth political engagement website, debate team 4 years, president of a club
I’m also a white male, if that changes anything.
If you’re out of state, it’s going to be tough. If you’re in-state, you have a much better shot. Assuming you have lots of EC hours (and probably a few more activities than you chose to list), and decent awards, recommendations, and essays, you stand a chance.
We are far more concerned with actual courses and grades than the GPA. GPAs are not standardized across the country. A “good” GPA at one school could be mathematically impossible to get at another. We could have many applicants with identical GPAs and very different transcripts.
Academics will always take precedence over activities.
There’s a reason the application review takes so long - there is a lot more to this than glancing at some numbers.