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

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.

***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.

good and engaging book