The thing is that a school that requires a 3.81 to get into or graduate with a major probably has a more lenient grade curve to compensate. For example, my Comp Sci degree was at a school where a 3.2 was considered honours, the cutoff from a B to an A was 80 (there was no A-), and very few students per class got A grades. The school I'm at now, an A is considered a 93 and they basically give them out to anyone who shows up at the undergraduate level.
A- is a 3.66. And A is 94+
:<
And it's technically 3.66 to apply, but i've heard common rejection stories up to 3.9 somehow
It's like applying to a nice college or such- you might get rejected no matter what if you're not perfect.