Nov 07, 2016 03:34 AM EST By Emily Marks, UniversityHerald Reporter

There is a lot of competition when it comes to college applications. With it comes a common misconception that only students who have great grades can be accepted to highly-ranked national universities.

However, according to U.S. News, students don't have to get straight As in order to be accepted in the best national universities. The publication collated a list of colleges that accept many students with satisfactory grades.

American University, based in DC, places 74th in the National Universities rank. It had a 3.7 average high school GPA for fall 2015 incoming students.

Clark University in MA also ranks 74th in the National Universities list. It has the same average high school GPA as American University.

University of Massachusetts - Amherst, on the other hand, had a 3.8 average high school GPA for fall 2015 incoming students. It is followed by Virginia Tech in seventh place.

Baylor University comes in sixth place. It ranks 71st in the National Universities list.

Rutgers University - New Brunswick, which has the 70 th place in the National Universities rankings, nabs the fifth spot in the list of national universities that accepts students with satisfactory grades. It is followed by Fordham University, which had a 3.6 average high school GPA for fall 2015 incoming students.

Pepperdine University and Syracuse University took the first and second spots, respectively, with a 3.6 average high school GPA for fall 2015 incoming students. Purdue University nabbed third place with a 3.7 average GPA.

High school students should prepare for their college application as early as freshman year. There are already a lot of tools available online to help you with the process.

A new online platform has been created to "transform" the college application process. It is developed by a group of over 90 selective universities across the nation to equip students with a set of free tools that will help them with the college search process.

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