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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quick read. Well worth it., July 27, 2010
This review is from: How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out) (Paperback)
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.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worked for Stanford & Harvard, December 1, 2010
This review is from: How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out) (Paperback)
I picked up this book because I'm a parent and was intrigued by the premise. Little did I realize that the approach described in the book is actually the approach I took (without realizing it) to get into Stanford many years ago and is the same approach my brother took to get into Harvard.
I also have a friend who was an application reader at Stanford. There's a remark in particular she made about the process that jumped out at me. Each reader will read several hundred applications. Most applications are boring. Most seem the same as the next. The readers often get bored by reading 400 applications in a row that all seem, well the SAME.
This significant point on this is the applications are STILL boring even if they are all impressive in the SAME WAY. This is a nuance in college admissions that I think is really lost on a lot people who apply. There are two ways to get into a top school: 1) be the smartest / most academically accomplished applicant, 2) be smart enough but really unusual / different in some unconventional way.
The Superstar book is the only book I've ever seen on the latter.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to be a High School Superstar, August 1, 2010
This review is from: How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out) (Paperback)
I'm fifteen, and attend a college prep K-12 school, where from sixth grade up the focus is college, college, college. I started attending this school for high school only, after attending a more lax charter where the focus was on making a difference in society through charity, not necessarily on competition in academia, in that until high school, I never received grades.
My dad got me this book last week. I read the whole thing in one day, and I loved it. My school puts so much pressure on math and physics, and I'm friends with so many people who go to summer school to take more of those classes and who actively enjoy them. Since the start of freshmen year I'd been trying to get better at those subjects because that was what everyone around me perceived as important, but I have very little interest in physics and only a bit more in math. I actively enjoy biology, language arts, social studies, climate science and genetic engineering, but because of the pressures of my school life I didn't focus on them as much as I knew I wanted to.
After reading this book, I've felt sort of free to not try and master a subject that I know I would be miserable studying. Instead, I'm turning my attentions back to genetics, biology and climate sciences.
Before reading this book, I was stressed out and unhappy. I'm entering sophomore year, and I was planning on doubling up Chemistry and Physics classes during the year so I could gain an edge and stand out on college application forms. Now, though, with the full permission of my father, I probably will not be taking high school physics. Instead, this year I'm signing up for AP Biology.
This book is definitely a must-read.
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