The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, by Alexandra Robbins

In 2006 , a nonfiction book called The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids cast an uncanny light on my late teenage years.

The midaughts were a time when the college admissions process felt as if it were coming to a head, and teenage mental health along with it.

"We live in an achievement-oriented, workaholic culture," Alexandra Robbins wrote.

Last year , U.S. News ranked Whitman first among Montgomery County high schools, fourth in the D.C. Metro area.

Most of these students will graduate from superlative four-year colleges.

But the lure of top options inflames competition.

This “toxicity” takes alternate form on TikTok , Instagram Reels, and YouTube , the Wild West of college scouting.

"AP Frank" is the de facto poster child of Robbins ' book, his adolescence a harrowing study in helicopter parenting.

"Julie" is an author and career strategist living in Ashland , Oregon .

"I feel that in our world today , there’s so much uncertainty that college even worth college and being able to get a good job".