Author here - the way I see it, a lot of kids are going to put time and effort into this. Might as well be efficient about it. This book was written for public school kids and parents who would never have access to the info that kids at top private schools do. Going to a top school gets you big scholarships, is usually cheaper than even going in-state, and could literally change your life.

And a large part of the book talks about how you should combine unique activities to stand out instead of doing what others are doing, and to not stress over grades/scores past a certain point.

So yeah, I'm damn proud of my work here.