@mathmom, Mudd has had a total of 8 students in the history of the school graduate with a 4.0. Average GPA for grads is around a 3.3, I think. Plenty of students with close to 4.0s in high school and stratospheric SAT scores end up with a 3.0 or less. And this is even with first semester as pass-fail. Most STEM grad programs know the quality of a Mudd education, and they have excellent grad school placement, but med schools are unforgiving on this point.
I have no idea what the stats are at Caltech – and it may also be a less than stellar pre-med option if they have the same kind of stats.