How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out)

***THE BOTTOM LINE*** I definitely recommend this book. It has good, unconventional advice on how to succeed as a high school student without being a social reject. This advice will probably NOT be common sense to the type-A students out there who have been raised thinking the successful students do homework from 6p-12a every night. If you know a student who wants to get into an elite university, this book provides evidenced techniques for succeeding toward that end. ***A FULLER REVIEW*** I picked this book up for my brother, who's in high school. Secretly, I--being a university Freshman--wanted to read it too. The book's lessons can be life-changing if you listen and have faith in Newport's advice. I was the opposite of relaxed in high-school. I was stressed, involved in service clubs I didn't care about, and taking 6 AP courses each semester my senior year. I got a 30 on my ACT, which was certainly nothing spectacular in the eyes of most elite schools. Not surprisingly, my laundry list of unremarkable endeavors, A average in AP courses, and mediocre standardized test scores did NOT get me into Harvard, MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia...(seriously, the list of elite schools to which I applied and was rejected is embarrassingly long). This book explains, in explicit detail, why my attempt at getting into the elite universities was flawed, and it also explains the optimal way to try to get into elite universities. For high-school students, the book gives excellent advice for lowering stress (e.g. stop working at a certain time each day, do some thinking/reading in solitude, don't give up your entire life for school, etc.). The book also gives excellent advice for improving grades (i.e. note-taking methods, studying strategies, etc.) and advice for doing interesting things outside the classroom. It is a very balanced approach to high-school life that, when executed correctly, will make a student more impressive AND leave her with more free time than the alternative (i.e. my approach described above). For the general public, this book contains valuable lessons about creating a more interesting life. The rules still apply, if you're creative enough to seek the applications. Not working past a certain point in the day, pursuing endeavors that are innovative, and cultivating a reading habit are among the many broadly applicable tips Newport gives throughout the book. My main critique of the book is that it doesn't explicitly spell out how much of your free time should be used for interesting pursuits versus totally social activity (e.g. hanging out with friends). I suppose the author leaves it to you to discern that Friday and Saturday nights are good times to interact with other humans. This book was definitely worth the few days it took me to read through it. If you're interested in becoming interesting (and perhaps getting into an elite university), this book will spell the process out for you.

I purchased this for my daughter, who is only a freshman in high school but, like many of her friends, already stressed about getting into a good college. They seem to believe that unless they load up their schedules with AP and Honors courses, earn straight As, and spend every hour outside of the classroom engaged in the "right" extracurricular activities (student council, robotics = good, art club, choir = bad),, the dream of attending a good college will never come true. Cal Newport, a professor at Carnegie Mellon, provides very different advice in this book -- encouraging students to actually create more free time in their schedules to be open to new experiences, and follow their passions and interests in exploring opportunities that come their way, rather than cramming their schedules full of activities that may spark little joy and not be aligned with interests. Professor Newport's advice will certainly result in a more fun, less stressful high school experience -- it will also make you a more interesting person, the kind of person many colleges would want to have on campus. As a middle-aged woman with no intention of applying to colleges any time soon, I read this book through and found it quite interesting and full of useful guidance on keeping yourself open to opportunities and new experiences and being willing to pay your dues and establish your own credibility within a closed organization -- lots of useful tips here, whether you are 16 or 56. Newport is a good, clear, writer, and the book is full of examples of student successes. Many of the success stories seem daunting at first glance -- not everyone is going to write a best-seller or start a million-dollar company -- but every student can find a unique path to pursue. I highly recommend this for any high school student who has a very rigid and daunting notion of what it will take to get into college. And I recommend it for parents of such students.

I initially stumbled upon Cal's blog six months ago, searching for techniques that might help my kids. In fact, what I found was a veritable treasure chest of techniques, that could be applied by individuals of any age. I have since adopted many of his approaches and have found them useful in my work. I suspected that this book would not have much substance beyond what could be found on the Study Hacks website. After all, even a person like Cal, can only have so many great ideas. Regardless, I ordered the book if for no other reason to support and reward Cal's hard work in writing useful and original content. I read the entire book in one sitting of a few hours. As I expected, much of the substance is already on the website. However, it is still worth buying this book. Cal pulls the whole message together into an overall framework, and elaborates on many of his points with relevant examples. Even loyal Study Hacks readers will be better able to execute on the approach after reading the book.

(My perspective: Independent Educational Consultant) "How to" books generally don't attract me, but this one seemed relevant and had positive reviews. While it took me a while to get through it, I really liked it. I liked it so much that I'm probably going to recommend it to my freshman and sophomore students. Newport's premise is what the subtitle suggests: there's an easier way to impress admissions officers than the typical go-go-go "grind" approach. He calls it "the relaxed superstar lifestyle" and breaks this lifestyle down with three key laws, which compose the meat of his book: The Law of Underscheduling The Law of Focus The Law of Innovation I won't spoil the content for you. Go read it! He organizes his book by explaining and illustrating the given law and then offering practical suggestions for how to live by that law. The bottom line goal is to develop deep interests that yield "accomplishments that are hard to explain, not hard to do." These accomplishments help you stand out on college applications. Three notes of my own I'll make: First, I actually thrived on that harried, competitive, achiever lifestyle. Just for its own sake--not for the sake of getting into any specific college. My self-esteem was healthy (too healthy?) when it came to college admissions, so I did things typically because I wanted to do them, rather than because I was trying to impress colleges. If you genuinely LOVE the packed-schedule lifestyle, then don't change who you are. Second, part one of this book has excellent study skills tips. That's the part that sort of slowed me down. I wasn't expecting to read a study skills book. It is all part of his action plan to make underscheduling possible. I'd recommend reading that section of the book to anyone who wants to be more efficient as a student, regardless of college admissions feelings. Third, as a Christian, I'm going to put a little Jesus in this. If you're not into that, feel free to move along, but I wanted to include this note for any Christian students out there who haven't yet connected their college planning to their faith. Newton doesn't do this, nor did I expect him to. Newton's audience is understood to have the motivation of getting into "realistic reach" schools. Nothing wrong with that! But, as a Christian, I believe there's more motivation to it. All we have, including our time, is from God. We are stewards of that time. Developing and pursuing deep interests can not only be impressive to colleges but also can likely lead to better stewardship of one's time (assuming, of course, that the deep interest isn't something immoral--ha!). Having an underscheduled calendar can open up opportunities to glorify God with one's abilities and talents in ways that otherwise wouldn't have been possible. When we opt to invest our time in activities that we're not actually interested in and that we're only part of to impress others, we're likely cutting ourselves off from better ways we can bring glory to God. Bottom line, I highly recommend this read, especially for early high school students.

The college application process is grueling, but it's nothing compared to what many students put themselves through in order to prepare for it, filling their lives with AP ® classes, sports, music lessons, clubs and activities until they are at the point of nervous breakdown. But there is a better way to achieve your goals, and it's not just for valedictorians. Cal Newport's third book, How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out) is a packed full of innovative ideas sure to help any student reach their goals, whether or not they include college. It is aimed at the high achiever who is aiming for an Ivy League or "tier one" school. This could be a little intimidating to the average student content with UCONN or WPI, and might seem to make the book irrelevant to the student thinking of skipping college altogether and moving right into the world of trade or entrepreneurship, but this book has something to offer all students. The basic message of the book is this: Don't wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren't stellar. Newport calls this the "relaxed superstar approach," and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling--making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a "jack of all trades," and (3) innovation--developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals. Newport recognizes the tremendous potential of youth and testifies to what teens can do if they set their minds to it. Modern American teenagers underestimate themselves and are underestimated by society. With his refreshing philosophy, practical tips and unique insights, Newport's book can help them break through the mediocrity of modern teen culture and do great things. This may include getting into a great college, but it also include whatever ambitious goal you may choose.

Excellent, thoughtful, easy to read book that can help anyone, not just high schoolers, become interested and interesting. I'm not the target audience for this book. I'm 7 years removed from high school and 3 months away from finishing law school. I can tell you the strategies espoused by Cal actually work because I unwittingly stumbled onto many of them during my own high school career, which enabled me to get into a pretty great university with almost no work. Still, this book provided me with more valuable techniques that I've applied to law school to stay near the top of my class by putting in far less work than other students. I only wish I had found this book sooner. Beyond school, the techniques Cal presents can be used by anyone, of any age, to become not only successful, but interesting. Cal presents each of his tips, tricks, systems, techniques and strategies in very simple, very easy to understand terms. He then provides examples of how each worked for a few particular students, just so you don't think his ideas are too crazy. If you're a parent, you owe it to your kid to buy this book, read it, and then make the kid read it. Any half-literate 8th grader can read and comprehend this book in under a week, and if he applies any of it, it will change his life. If you're out of high school, you owe it to yourself to buy this book. The ideas it contains are applicable to anyone with a resume, and anyone looking to make something of their life.

I found this book extremely insightful and helpful, even though I'm an entrepreneur and graduated from high school years ago. I was able to start applying many of the suggestions immediately to my software development business. For example, I began to notice that our products were competing in an overcrowded market. To win in this space, my company would have to be the software development equivalent of what Cal calls a "grind," or someone who spends way to much pandering to established (and boring) paths to success. With Cal's chapters on focus serving as a catalyst, we were able to identify a key "deep interest" that our company has been nurturing for years. I'm confident that focusing on this interest will lead to better products, a more clear company identity, and stronger market response to our work. Also, when I *was* in high school, I got accepted into Stanford, Cal Poly, and other top schools while maintaining a very relaxed outlook. I made no attempt to appeal to admissions officers, nor did I even research what competitive schools were looking for. However, I always naturally gravitated to activities that were interesting, such as running my own web development company at a time when many people didn't even know what the Internet was. Looking back, I followed Cal's advice instinctively, and I had a fun, successful, high school career because of it. Buy this book if you: - want to work less hard but appear to be more interesting at the same time. - feel like you could never catch up with the competition because they have too much time and money - are tired of people telling you to find your passion, without explaining what that means - engage in too many boring and pointless activities - want a step-by-step guide for accomplishing seemingly impossible feats of remarkableness In summary, this is a great book for anyone who's willing to think outside the box to enjoy success.

I'm about a third of the way through this book. It is easy to read and presents information in an interesting narrative, with relevant personal stories. It is geared towards students who pressure themselves to succeed. It lends a fresh perspective on the value of allowing time to simply pursue what interests them, not doing things because they hope will impress college admissions officers. Many very bright students with loads of extracurriculars compete for select colleges, but this book says that it is the student who is the interesting person, who has found an area that excites them, which can only be found if the student is not overscheduled, who will catch the interest of admissions officers reviewing hundreds of applications.

It's amazing

A perfect give for a young student.

It was a good read with useful information on " the relaxed superstar method". It doesn't apply to the local context here, but the methods can be extrapolated for most high school students who want to do interesting things and find more free time with their hectic schedules. Overall, I think it's a great resource for parents and secondary school kids who are already doing well in their studies and want to make time to aim for top colleges worldwide.

good and engaging book

its a book to read once .