How to Be a High School Superstar

1. Underscheduling: The Foundation of Relaxed Success

Pack your schedule with free time. Use this time to explore.

Counterintuitive approach. The law of underscheduling challenges the common belief that cramming your schedule with activities improves college admissions chances. Instead, it advocates for maintaining significant free time to explore interests and develop genuine passions. This approach allows students to:

• Reduce stress and avoid burnout
• Discover and pursue deep interests
• Develop unique, impressive accomplishments

Real-world examples. Students like Olivia, who devoted only 6-7 hours per week to extracurriculars, and Jessica, who often finished her weekly homework by Tuesday, still achieved remarkable success in college admissions. Their underscheduled lifestyle allowed them to pursue genuine interests and develop standout accomplishments.

2. Deep Interests Drive Genuine Accomplishments

Interestingness cannot be forced or planned in advance. It is generated, instead, as a natural by-product of a "deep interest," which is a long-term pursuit that a student returns to voluntarily and eagerly whenever given a chance.

Organic development of interests. Deep interests cannot be manufactured or faked. They emerge naturally when students have the time and freedom to explore various subjects and activities. These interests become the foundation for genuine accomplishments that truly impress admissions officers.

Key characteristics of deep interests:

• Voluntary engagement
• Consistent enthusiasm
• Long-term commitment

The Saturday-morning test. A simple way to identify a deep interest is to ask: Would you eagerly pursue this activity on a free Saturday morning? If the answer is yes, it's likely a deep interest.

3. The Power of Focus in Extracurricular Activities

Master one serious interest. Don't waste time on unrelated activities.

Quality over quantity. The law of focus emphasizes becoming exceptional in one area rather than spreading oneself thin across many activities. This approach:

• Reduces stress and time commitments
• Allows for deeper exploration and mastery
• Creates more impressive accomplishments

Example: Michael Silverman. Michael focused entirely on environmental sustainability projects throughout high school. This singular focus allowed him to achieve significant accomplishments, such as installing solar panels at his school, which ultimately helped him gain admission to Stanford.

4. The Superstar Effect: Becoming the Best in One Area

You will receive a sizable impressiveness bonus for an extracurricular pursuit if you're the best at that pursuit out of all of the applicants the admissions officers have encountered that year.

Disproportionate rewards. The Superstar Effect, based on economist Sherwin Rosen's work, explains why being the best in a field, even if only slightly better than others, can lead to significantly greater rewards. In college admissions, this translates to:

• Standing out among applicants
• Receiving disproportionate recognition for achievements
• Increasing chances of acceptance at top schools

Practical application. Focus on becoming the best in a specific, potentially less competitive area rather than trying to excel in overcrowded fields.

5. The Matthew Effect: Good Begets Good

Once you accomplish something that is unambiguously impressive, you'll begin to achieve complementary accomplishments with little additional effort.

Snowball effect of success. The Matthew Effect, named after a Biblical verse, describes how initial success tends to lead to more success. In the context of college admissions:

• Early achievements open doors to new opportunities
• Reputation and connections build upon initial accomplishments
• Complementary accomplishments accumulate with less effort

Example: Kevin's story. Kevin's focus on Boy Scouts led to leadership skills that helped him excel in various areas, from sports to academics, with each success building upon the last.

6. Countersignaling: Less Can Be More Impressive

Adding to your schedule an activity that could be replicated by any student willing to sign up and invest a reasonable amount of time in it can hurt your impressiveness.

Quality over quantity in activities. The Laundry List Hypothesis suggests that having too many average activities can actually make a student appear less impressive. Countersignaling involves:

• Focusing on a few significant accomplishments
• Avoiding common, easily replicable activities
• Demonstrating confidence in one's abilities through selectivity

Practical application. Instead of joining every club possible, focus on developing standout achievements in one or two areas that truly showcase your abilities and interests.

7. Innovation Through Closed Communities and Leverage

Once you pass a certain threshold of skill in a field, you'll encounter many opportunities for related activities that will improve your perceived ability without requiring an excessive time commitment.

Strategic approach to innovation. The three rules of innovation provide a framework for achieving impressive accomplishments:

1. Don't try to think up innovations from scratch
2. Join closed communities and pay your dues
3. Leverage your way up to innovation

Practical steps:

• Identify and join a closed community (known but not fully understood by outsiders)
• Prove your value through consistent, quality work
• Gradually take on more significant projects as you gain trust and understanding

8. The Failed-Simulation Effect: Impressing Through Inexplicability

If you cannot mentally simulate the steps taken by a student to reach an accomplishment, you will experience a feeling of profound impressiveness.

Power of the inexplicable. The Failed-Simulation Effect explains why certain accomplishments are more impressive than others, regardless of the actual difficulty or time invested. Key aspects:

• Accomplishments that are hard to explain generate more awe
• Difficulty in mentally simulating the steps to achieve something increases its perceived value
• Activities with clear, easily imagined paths (e.g., becoming class president) are less impressive

Application. Focus on developing accomplishments that are unique and challenging for others to mentally recreate, rather than pursuing common or easily understood activities.

9. Strategic Time Management for Students

During a normal week, your work should be done by dinnertime on weekdays and require one half day on either Saturday or Sunday, but not both.

Efficient work habits. Achieving the ideal student workweek requires strategic time management:

• Study in focused, 50-minute chunks with 10-minute breaks
• Utilize school time effectively for homework and studying
• Avoid distractions, especially digital ones, during work time

Productivity techniques:

• Use active recall instead of passive review when studying
• Write papers over three days: research, write, edit
• Regularly evaluate and improve study habits

10. The Art of Becoming Good at Something

When you find a reporter whose work you admire, break his or her code. Examine the story and figure out what the reporter did, where he or she went, how that reporter constructed the story, and why it worked.

Strategic skill development. Becoming exceptionally good at something involves more than just practice. Key strategies include:

1. Learn from experts in the field
2. Immerse yourself in the world surrounding your chosen activity
3. Leverage initial abilities to create more opportunities

Practical steps:

• Seek out and study those who excel in your area of interest
• Surround yourself with the culture, knowledge, and people related to your pursuit
• Use your growing skills to access increasingly impressive opportunities

Last updated: February 14, 2025