Originally Posted by rHinO1

If you look where they list the GPA and MCAT data for each school, you will see that the median MCAT score and median GPA are circled in white. This means that half the students at this school are above this GPA/MCAT, and the other half of students are below.

Then, you will notice that there is a highlighted bar that includes a range of scores/gpa on either side of the median. This shows the 10th and 90th percentiles. The score/gpa that the lowest 10% of students are either at, or below, is the 10th percentile.

For example, at NYU:
cGPA median is 3.8
10th percentile is 3.6 (relax, many other schools aren't nearly this high )
90th is 4.0
total students = 164

So, I can conclude that only 16.4 students at NYU have a GPA less than, or equal to, a 3.6 GPA. When you are wondering if a school has a GPA cut off, the 10th percentile is probably the best estimate. The 10th percentile can also be particularly useful for MCAT subscores.