<p>By excellent I mean the top 20 universities.
Don’t suggest Cal Newport’s stuff, please. His way is just one way, but before that, I would like to know about your experience BEFORE his book as well. Please don’t offer insights if you attend a non-competitive school.</p>
<p>Yeah you can… Just make sure that you never have a lazy moment, work hard play hard is cliche yes but it is cliche for a reason!</p>
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<p>also cliche</p>
<p>Of course you can. I personally have a really great social life, although I do not know where I will be accepted aside from UC Irvine (ranked Top 50; it was my safety). I go out every weekend. I hang out with friends. I have time for family. I have time to waste on the internet (like right now…). I don’t get overly stressed about school work. I can take naps!!! 
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<p>But I’ve managed to maintain my 4.0 unweighted GPA, I’ve taken/am taking 11 AP courses total and I’ve managed to get 5’s on everything except APUSH and AP Chem. I’ve been captain of soccer, played varsity lacrosse since I was a sophomore. I started a tutoring program. I coached AYSO soccer for little kids. I am involved in a science program that does a lot of really cool stuff like tour labs and hospitals. I even have a research internship in the summers. AND I still have a life. </p>
<p>Living the dream.</p>
<p>have a life meaning you don’t work at all on friday. and hang out saturday, the whole day or at night. Sunday you go to church and play with your church group.</p>
<p>I don’t go to church, actually.Weeknights I rarely spend more than an hour and a half on homework a night. My activities are spread out over the year and are maybe 6 hours/week commitments. I have tons of downtime, not spent frolicking around with church groups or charities. I don’t know why people think you have to give up a social life to compete in college admissions. </p>
<p>And I have a curfew of midnight, I usually stay out until then. I can usually swing 1am though, because my parents are very lenient. I attend the occasional party. I also do things like go to the zoo, the beach, the mall, the movies… Normal stuff. You don’t have to be boring to be successful.</p>
<p>Well I got into Johns Hopkins and I would describe my social life as pretty decent.
Although most of my “social” life revolves around school related events, I am still satisfied.
I dont study all the time…the truly smart ones are the people who know when to take their face out of a book and learn how to interact with people.</p>
<p>I knew someone who went to Dartmouth last year, his social life was just fine. I know someone who is going to Yale and seems to have a good social life, but he is an athletic recruit.</p>
<p>Many people I know who are or who have gone to top schools had a lot of friends, dated, and overall had a pretty good social life. I haven’t heard back from everywhere (just been accepted to schools I knew I would be, waiting on more competitive schools RD), so I can’t tell you how things worked out for me, but I managed to have good friends, a girlfriend for nearly two years now, good SAT and SAT Subject Test scores, and almost all As for junior and senior year in a rigorous dual enrollment program (note: my grades were not nearly as good for freshman and sophomore years, but I also didn’t have as good of a social life then, so what does that say? Probably doesn’t mean a thing).</p>
<p>You CAN have a social life and get into a top school, but I can’t tell you if you WILL. However, if you work hard at it, you will get into a good school, regardless of its place in some flawed, money-making ranking system.</p>
<p>Totally. My best friend is going to Brown and she’s always had a normal social life. Same with her brother at a HYP.</p>