<p>I understand Stanford doesn’t only look at test scores, etc. of course. However, the best essay in the world won’t necessarily help if you have extremely low scores, a low GPA, few EC’S, etc. Additionally, test scores typically come into the picture when they’re comparing two applicants with almost equal applications in terms of EC’s, essay quality, GPA, etc. (hypothetically). I would think that at that point, whoever has the highest test score would get in. That’s the scary part, and I think that’s why people worry about getting the highest scores they can even when they’ve already got above-above average scores.</p>