I think the GPA thing is bullshit. If the top 10 colleges concentrate on the GPA, then they can have that 'lot'. In my perspective, such 3.9+ people, with few exceptions, are usually useless for grad school purposes, working only for a good grade. They don't have much of researching ability, to think out of the box or to take required risks. They are usually calculative, unimaginative people. Not that it's a bad thing - but engineering or science grad schools aren't for them.