How exactly important is the SAT/ACT?

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1971287-perspectives-from-an-admissions-office-at-a-selective-school-part-1.html#latest

Pretty sure scores don’t matter that much after a certain benchmark. Since you are a low-income student, you should look into college fly-in programs(especially Windows On Williams if you are interested in Williams College.) These fly-in programs are completely free and if you get accepted and attended these programs, you are pretty much gonna get into the school itself(Tufts fly-in is the only exception. Only 50% of the kids that did the fly-in get in according to the people I talked to.)

Schools with fly-in(or similar to fly-in) programs:

Darthmouth, Amherst DIVOH, MIT, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Tufts, Hamilton, etc.