<p>It’s a waste of money and it keeps OP from focusing his or her efforts on finding schools that are more realistic reaches. Normally, I’d suggest applying if a student, especially a ‘hooked’ student, is within range. OP isn’t even close. He or she needs to start using the tools available, like the Common Data Set, to find better dreams.</p>
<p>OP, it’s not about being bright and well-rounded. Everyone applying to Stanford - all 34,000 - are bright and either well-rounded or amazingly talented. The only way you might be viable is if you have stellar grades in grades 10 and 11 (because Stanford doesn’t include your 9th grade in their GPA calculation) and/or you have an amazing life story that makes it reasonable that you would be one of the 10/3000 students that they admit with your grades. </p>
<p>Of course, the chances of a 3.0 student making a 2200+ on the SAT is also extremely small, so this is really just a theoretical discussion.</p>