As in
anything, there is a technique in getting high grades now matter what the class
or how difficult it is. Here are some
suggestions from my experience.
1. Create the pre-conditions for getting a top
grade through organization. Get a single
binder for each course. Create a
schedule for each day of the week and for each hour of the day in which you
block out the time that you need for study or lab work. Try to maintain consistency with your
schedule adjusting it as experience warrants.
2. If at all possible, sit in the first row in
front of the lectern. You will hear
better, take better notes, and will be able to interact better with the
professor.
3. Choose your professors with care. Find out everything you can about the
professor. Especially find out what he
has written. His articles and books will
give you clues on how to write for his class.
4. Repress any temptation to remain silent in
class. Try to ask one well-phrased
question each class period.
5. Review your notes for one hour before each
class and for one hour immediately after each class. Reduce your volume of notes that you took
that day to a page or so of the most critical information.
6. Never fail to turn an assignment in on time,
making sure that it is Disney quality.
7. Form a study group with kindred souls to
review assignments and prepare for exams.
Banter about topics in the class throughout the day, perhaps during
lunch and times of recreation. You will
find that this has a way of resolving study problems and fixing in your mind
difficult concepts.
8. Engage the professor. Learn the jargon abundantly but
accurately. Try to get him to notice
and like you. Look for opportunities to
be gracious as well as brilliant.
9. Read the assigned material closely and
sometimes repeatedly, looking especially for interrelating concepts. Be ready to translate these into your own
words. Try to reduce the underlining to
no more than two lines per page and one page of notes per chapter.
10. Never miss a class. In every school, you will find one or two
brilliant people who spend the semester playing racket ball, and then
the evening before the final they flip through a text book and end up getting
an A. I don't deny that there are such
people, but I have as much confidence in sustaining this kind of success as I have
in winning a lottery. What separates
the B student from the A student-- not just in school but in life as well-- is sweat and joy-- hard work combined with a passion
to master the subject. Don't minimize
the effort you will need to get a top grade.
I can think of no surer way to impress a professor than through
sheer hard work and combined with an undivided and consistent commitment in
doing your very best.