<p>I think that SAT scores are/aren’t important depending on the context of your school or region. There’s a reason the PSAT cutoff is different from say Wyoming 201 compared to Massachusetts 221. I know for a fact that certain schools like Yale reads apps through a regional director which means you are compared with people from the same state or area. From my school the people accepted to HYPMS ( not only Stanford) all had scores between 2000 and 2250. But this is because the people in my school normally have SAT scores in the 1600s. If you go to a high achieving school where all the top students applying to HYPMS have 2350+ and you have a 2100 then your chances are much slimmer if you are hookless and no passion.</p>