<p>I think that you need to be an expert in college admissions only if you are pushing the envelope. If you want to attend an expensive school on merit aid, attend one of the top ten in selectivity, or want to attend a school at which most applicants have stats above yours, you are pushing the envelope. However, if your goals are well within your means (financial, personal, and statistical), you don't need to go on a major campaign of studying college admissions. However, people today are putting more effort into SAT preparation, honors courses, cultivating their ECs, and packaging the actual application, so it is putting pressure on everyone to do so.</p>