I think the advice of the article is targeted to high school students who aren't smart enough to get scholarships and are not necessarily guaranteed admission i

I think the advice of the article is targeted to high school students who aren't smart enough to get scholarships and are not necessarily guaranteed admission into a top Ivy. The type of students who are engaged in an AP arms race. The students who have parents who are living vicariously through their kids' academic performance, in pursuit of the ultimate bragging prize: an Ivy. The students who go to a very competitive high school an hours drive away in hopes that they can do well in this large pool of competitive hormones... only to be crushed by the true weed out courses, not science but humanities like AP History. Where high school graduation demands careful preparation of the pronouncement of the many Indian and Asian surnames. Where having a girlfriend is seen as having a direct negative correlation on the semester GPA. Where a bad test score can create family tensions that crack the San Andreas fault and leave all in the family, worst for fears. All in the hopes of playing for a spot in a competitive admissions class with thousands of cookie cutter aspirants like themselves. Your friends probably were not part of this group, and I wonder what they are doing now.