Overachievers Book Review

Every fall millions of American adolescents gear up to apply for the thousands of colleges and universities across the nation. For many students this process is a simple-natural progression through a linear educational track in which no extra preparation, beyond a paper application, is required. However, for many students college preparation can begin as early as conception. Alexandria Robbins follows the stories of nine students from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. Whitman is known for and could be summarized by a simple term in which Robbins’ book is also titled: Overachievers. The author explores the hectic nature of helicopter parenting, bureaucratic admission processes, the culture of Ivy (a term describing the upper

Chapter 14: Chapter fourteen focuses on ADD and two commonly prescribed ADD medications: ritalin and adderall. Apparently, many non-ADD students are using other people's prescriptions to get a competitive edge at school, especially during testing periods or finals. Even more shocking is that some parents actually push for their non-ADD children to be diagnosed so that they can get them drugs. They will shop around for doctors and go through visit after visit until they find someone willing or prescribe. In the lives of the students, as SAT scores come out, one of the kids Robbins was following describes the different types of “score weasels” at her school – kids who spend all their time comparing and trying to find out each other's scores. Another student reacts angrily when her mother talks to other parents about the students score report. This “age of comparison” phenomenon extends to students' choices of schools where they apply – they are constantly asked where they've applied, where they've been accepted, and they feel as though they are being

Students today undergo constant pressure for perfection, going through extreme efforts to meet this expectation. Alexandra Robbins, an investigative journalist and author of The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, views modern educational culture as a danger to students because it advocates productivity over learning. On the other hand, Jay Mathews of the Washington Post believes that students today are more apathetic than stressed. Robbins perception of today’s schools is more accurate than Mathews’, for students cheat to appear smarter, burden themselves with grueling schedules to impress colleges, and develop mental disorders as a result.

The goal of wanting to succeed is quite natural for everyone. It is not unjust to assume that all students want to become successful as well. However, some students are more determined to succeed than others and take extreme steps to do so. Richard Rodriguez’s The Scholarship Boy discusses the issue with scholarship students. He argues the overachieving student has an eager obsession with learning. Although Rodriguez addresses the scholarship boy obsession with success, he fails to describe the undergoing stress of the overachieving student.

Alexandra Robbins follows many students who strive to be the best, but her findings show some of those students eventually become very stressed and their sanity falls victim to their overwhelming work while in pursuit of their perfect future. Julie, portrayed as the superstar, participates in many extracurricular activities in order to receive acceptance into the college of her dreams. “Her class schedule consisted of 5 AP classes followed by an hour-long thrice-weekly environmental education internship at a natural science museum. At 2:30 each day, she returned to school for cross country practice.” Julie’s busy schedule displays her desire to ‘build up’ her resume for college to seem

My high school years, unlike the past years of steady achievements, felt much more like a sine graph with ups and downs. To begin with, I conquered my freshman year in a breeze. My easily achievable classes not only earned myself confidence, but also admiration and respect from my classmates and teachers. As a result, I comfortably acclimated myself to the status of a star student.

Julie’s study habits were also influenced by college counselors, who told her that she would not get into an ivy league based on her SAT scores. “I’ve put so much time into these stupid tests; this is how sick I am. Think of all that I could have been doing instead. Everytime I look at that book, a little bit of me dies.” (Page 54.) This quote is showing that the emphasis put on the SATs can affect students happiness and well being, as well as take away from time spent with friends, family, and participating in other activities. The stress that Julie was experiencing was also exhibited by her hair loss and hair thinning. If students are too concerned with the SAT, it may affect their ability to absorb information in their classes, since their minds will be elsewhere, as well as exhibit happiness and other health issues. These factors can cause their class grades to drop, and take away from their actual learning

Robbins defends the idea that over achieving students’ health worsens because of high school stress. Julie, the high school superstar, perfectly embodies the notion that stress can take a toll on one’s well being. Throughout the course of the novel Julie’s hair is thins and falls out into clumps. She visits an array of doctors who all assure her that this is very normal for

Robbins defends the idea that over achieving students’ heath worsens because of the stress of high school. An example of this is Julie, who is perceived as the school superstar. Throughout the course of the novel Julie’s hair is thinning and falling out into clumps. She visits an array of doctors who all assure her that this is very normal in high school girls, and that

They have a lot of things to do and it is very hard for them to manage their time. They often don’t know if they are doing this for their own pleasure or because they want to please other people. “ Everyone is stressed for the simple fact that we’re not sure if we’re working for our own passion and dreams or for other people’s expectations.” (Page 50) There is a lot of competition at Whitman, so therefore everything the students do is a competition. AP Frank, a former student of Whitman High school, managed to take 17 AP classes throughout high school.

In the novel, “A Hope in the Unseen” written by Ron Suskind explains the journey of Cedric Jennings from the Inner City to the Ivy League. Throughout his journey Cedric Jennings has had to navigate many challenges first at Ballou High School, then MIT in the summer, and finally at Brown University. During his High school career at Ballou he received many backlash from his peers because of his devotion to his studies. In Ballou High School, “the school’s dropout/transfer rate at nearly 50 percent, it’s understandable that kids at Ballou act as though they’re just passing through”(Suskind 3) but not Cedric. He had a determination like no other to succeed academically where he would often stay after to finish his homework and work on SAT practice

As future alumni, of Emmerich Manual High School, going on the fourth year here, I have an abundance, and variety of memories. Undoubtedly, the incomparable memory I have, was the day I realized I had found the diamond in the rocks. In the course of my sophomore year, one of my teachers motivated me by saying; “You’re selling yourself short, and turning in hogwash to get by.” The following day these words were regurgitated over and over in my head. While enduring this repetitive selection of words, I registered everyone I was surrounded by were also being navigated by almost the same words. Subsequently we all joined in on a healthy academic competition. We hustled each other, and continue to do so; my friends became my ‘saving grace’ this day. Regardless of this experience, Manual was not always a great place to go to school. Essentially Manual could have been considered a zoo by anyone who read, Matthew Tully’s 2012 book, Searching for Hope. Tully’s book details a school that contained students with academic apathy, violent action, and crippling attendance. These students demolished many opportunities that Manual yearned to present to the students. While Manual today resembles Tully’s Manual in the way some students maintain the prior students’ characteristics,

Michelle Gardner Cooper AP Language 16 July 2014 Purloining Adolescence The Overachievers by Alexandra Robbins combines students’ struggles with little-known facts in order to convey her distaste for the current state of education in the United States. Personal stories of teenage overachievers form the bulk on this novel. Robbins is an authority on the affect extreme pressure has on high school students from having researched it thoroughly.

In the New York Times article, “College’s High Cost, Before You Even Apply,” Tara Parker-Pope argues that the high-stress atmosphere of college application season experienced by high achieving students is detrimental to many aspects of student’s lives. Tara weaves the impressive argument that for many students, college admissions; especially to selective universities, may seem to hold a golden ticket at a terrible expense. Health, happiness and mental stability to name a few. These detrimental issues brought on by higher education woes are problems that escape J.D. Salinger’s protagonist in his most famous novel, Catcher in the Rye. In a sharp contrast to Holden Caulfield, The New York Times article features high-achieving students rushing into adulthood through a high education medium and are convinced that college acceptance is a precursor to a fulfilled career and a successful

Overdrive is a novel about a group of teenagers in the foster care system, trying to steal seven of the world’s rarest cars in return for great amounts of money and other various gifts from a wealthy man. The book is shown from the perspective of Julia, a 17 year old girl famously known as “Ghost” due to her impressive car-stealing reputation. After getting caught during a car boost, Julia and her little sister are brought into the home of Roger Montgomery, whom of which Julia is immediately wary of. The girls meet Roger’s other foster children and soon learn they were all taken in for a reason: to pull off a massive car heist. With the safety of her sister always in mind, Julia is willing to do whatever it takes to assure she will never have