<p>SAT's definitely aren't everything - one of my female friends, saludictorian (sp?) with a 1570, got rejected from harvard, princeton, yale, and brown, and was waitlisted at columbia.</p>
<p>I think that applying to a bevy of the most competitive schools is, to be honest, a waste. Although I scored a 1540, I concentrated on schools in the top 40, but did not apply anywhere that would be a "toss up" for a strong student. I'd rather have numerous choices among very strong programs than a variety of wait lists and rejections from top 10 schools.</p>
<p>I got admitted to all the schools I applied to.</p>