Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

I'm not sure how Cal Newport does it. While everyone else in this industry repeats the same advice over and over ("Study harder! Do more!"), Cal takes the opposite approach... and produces a masterpiece. In his third book on higher education, he tackles the essential question every ambitious high-school student has: "How can I get accepted to a good school while still having an actual life?"

The core advice from "High School Superstar" is simple but critical: do less, not more. No one cares about passion unless you give them a reason to. Lose the "laundry list" and do something that actually matters. The message is attractive and refreshing on its own, but Cal shows exactly how it works -- and backs up the case with hard science and numerous interviews. If you're making plans for your college future, or if you know someone with the big decision ahead of them, don't hesitate to pick up this great resource.

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.

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.

I found Cal Newport's blog maybe a year or two ago when I was in college googling about procrastination. I was so impressed by his blog that I decided to buy his book, How to Be a Straight A Student. I was so impressed with that book that I bought How to Win at College and gave it to a friend as a grad gift. Naturally, I was the first person at my school's book store to buy his latest book.

Like someone else said earlier, the book is full of information that you can find on his blog, however, the book puts it all together in a way that I couldn't do very well just by reading the blogs. I saw each blog entry is almost its own separate thing. I understood that they could all work together, but I didn't have a clear understanding of how. This book puts practically everything in his blog together in a nice, neat, easy-to-follow and understand bundle.

I recommend this book for everyone who is still in school, even if you are in college (maybe even for those who are already out, but I don't know what post-grad life is like :P). He explains using personal interviews and a few research studies to support his ideas what "it takes" to get into Harvard. To be an impressive person. I remember when I was doing the whole college-app thing I thought "Well, Harvard is kind of random. You never know who will get in, but I don't think I can." I didn't stress about college because I applied to schools that are semi-prestigious in the South and after reading reviews, I just figured I would PROBABLY get into one of them. I was kind of stressed out as a student in general, though. I was applying, without knowing, some of Cal's techniques but at the same time doing the opposite of some of his techniques. In order for this to work, you need to do them all.

I am a college senior and the art of being impressive (Well, more like a science. We now have a step by step plan) will help me with scholarships, internships and just getting a job! I noticed that I applied his techniques naturally (especially after finding his blog). But I still need to work on focusing on my academics (I refused to do the honors program and now, I'm taking just 12 hours. The best thing I've ever done academically ever! But I'm still not good at studying).

I went into a resume prep class, and it felt good to see the look on my reviewer's face when he saw my resume. You can't control your initial reaction. I'm confident I'm on my way to the level of impressiveness I want to be at.

Okay, so you want to know basically what it says? Here's how I interpret it.
1. Reduce your course-load. Some students will refuse to do this. There is even a reviewer on this site who gave this book 5 stars, but said he refuses to reduce his courses. And with what you have left, learn how to study it. Then focus when you study. The book doesn't go deep into study techniques. Buy his "how to be a straight a student" for that.

2. Do random things. Go to random events. Do and go to things that peak your interest but don't require a time commitment. Then follow up. Following up is the MOST important part. That's how connections are made, people. From my personal experience, this is how the world moves for you. A lot of celebrities and successful people say there was 1 lucky thing that got them to where they were. This is how you create your own luck.

3. Now, step 3 is all the other stuff that... maybe you can find it on his blog. Basically, check out this blog. Imagine this book with ALL of that information packaged and organized into an easy, executable way to act on it.

Ever since I first stumbled upon Cal's blog a few months ago, I've been a big fan of his philosophy on college admissions and life in general - so naturally, when I heard he'd written a book for high school students, I had to check it out.

It definitely doesn't disappoint. He includes several examples of high school students who have incorporated Cal's philosophy in their lives, and who have gone on to be very successful in college admissions. All of these students are extremely impressive, of course, but Cal breaks down their journey to success and shows us the path to achieving similar results.

One aspect which would have made this book a little more useful (and which would be a great improvement for a second edition!) would be a list of the boxed notes at the end. While the general idea of the book is fairly easy to remember, some of the nuances, such as the Saturday morning projects and the monthly bookstore trips and schedule "purgings" are more difficult to remember.

This is a thought provoking book. While I have as yet been unable to get my high school freshman to read it, it has encouraged me to promote less activities & more focus. And, it has given me many thoughts about niche marketing and running my business.