HEY Cornellians!! Did any of you have relatively ordinary/low grades or stats in High School (and still got into Cornell?)
If so, explain!
Do you have a hook, such as being an under-represented minority, legacy, or athlete? Do you live on a Native American reservation? Live in rural Wyoming? Child of a trustee? 
If not, you will not get into Arts & Sciences or Engineering with “ordinary/low grades.”
For the other schools, it depends on how your background relates to the major and how well you get that across in your essay. If you grandfather was Albert Shanker and you are applying to ILR, that’s helpful.