<p>"Believe me, if your EC's, community service, awards, grades, essay, courseload, and even some good AP scores, any college will find it difficult to reject you."</p>
<p>But they're gonna have to. EVERYONE who applies to top notch colleges has those things. If two applicants have similar applications but one has a bigger SAT score, guess who they're gonna pick?</p>
<p>"but my friend from church got a FULL RIDE to stanford with a 1270 SAT, top 5%, no special awards."</p>
<p>If that is true, presumably she is very poor as Stanford's financial aid is based on need. The top colleges have a hard time attracting impoverished students who have the academic background to graduate from an elite college, and my guess is that's how your friend was accepted.</p>
<p>Your friend's 1270 does indicate that she has the ability to graduate from Stanford. Although her SATs were low for Stanford, they still were high enough to indicate she could pass classes at Stanford.</p>