To be fair, I have filtered the reasonable parts of PUA. There is also a lot of crap. And most of the focus is on the short-term relationship -- the ending part is based solely on "Married Man Sex Life". (I guess that reflects the needs of a typical customer -- and perhaps even a typical PUA guru. Also, the society does give rather decent advice on "beta" traits; the "alpha" is the missing part, so teaching it is more popular and profitable.)

you seem to be arguing that the core tenet of PUA is "women are attracted to status". The problem is that this isn't a secret at all.

Yeah, this is difficult to explain (so outside view suggests I am prone to rationalization here). I agree with the examples you gave. And yet... the society gives contradictory and incomplete information on this. Consider saying: "If you have an expensive foreign car, you are more likely to get pretty girls." Say it at one place, and you will get: "Duh, news at 11." Say it at another place, and you will get: "You sexist! How dare you! Not all women are like that. Bringing an expensive car would never impress me."

So we have two separate magisteria here. In one universe, you only get girls by being bold and rich. In other universe, you only get girls by being polite and patient. Both messages are given by the society, none of them is literally a secret. Yet they seem contradictory, and how to successfully put them together, that is kind of a secret. Because people living in one universe typically deny the existence of the other universe.

Perhaps the information is all out there, in pieces, but you need some level of social skills to put it all correctly together. Judging by the popularity of PUAs, many people lack this skill. I certainly did.

Everyone knows that the cool jocks get the girls and the nerds don't.

I guess the nerds would appreciate a more precise advice; which parts of jocks' behavior are necessary for the desired effect, and which can be left out. Which is the 20% that brings 80% of the result. Otherwise, the price is too high. PUA explains how to get some of what jocks get, without having to become a full-time jock.

Perhaps the key is to be rational enough to take the next step and actually decide to either become or fake becoming higher status ... Or just deciding that it's not worth the effort.

If you map says that higher status is not actually important, that it is mostly sought by insecure or evil people, and is not really worth sacrificing your life to get it... then the rational choice is to ignore it. If your map says that higher status will improve your life in almost all aspects, and that the first steps to improve it are rather easy... then the rational choice is to go for it. So you need to get your map right to make the right decision.

The problem with PUA is that it all seems very clearly designed for attracting strangers, and consequently uses a high-risk, high-reward strategy.

There is no need to go high-risk all the time. In some situations (a disco with a hundred pretty girls, you don't care about any one in particular, you don't mind dozens of rejections), high-risk, high-reward strategy is the best one. In other situations, tone down appropriately. There will always be some risk, because willingness to risk is an important "alpha" trait. (But keeping the risk reasonably low is an important "beta" trait.)

Basically I wish someone could just tell me the socially acceptable, standard strategy that the people around me use, and then after I gain a better understanding of it, maybe I can tweak it as I see fit.

A new strategy is better tested on strangers. The people who already know you, will not react to your new strategy per se, but to your change. And people usually perceive change negatively; it disrupts social order. The stranger sees your new strategy and thinks this is what you are -- so you get a better response on what your future relationships would be if you became that.

And yes, you have to tweak all the advice to fit your personality. Also, while experimenting, you may discover traits you didn't know you had. Some of them good, some of them bad. You will have to deal with it too.

I would recommend you to find a torrent of "The Blueprint Decoded", watch it, go meet some new people, and do the experiments you feel (emotionally and ethically) comfortable with. Be just a little more courageous than you usually are, and notice how other people react to you, and how you feel inside once you become comfortable with it. Don't try too much at once. For example, if you have problem starting a conversation with a stranger, then during the first week consider successfully starting a conversation a victory. Don't push too far on the first try; you would sabotage yourself by converting every victory to a defeat.

EDIT: As a new environment with lot of girls, may I recommend dancing lessons? ;)