The secret to achieving excellent grades in college
Your college success is measured with the grades you get overall. How much you score indicates how well you understand the subjects offered in your course. If you are like most students, you may feel like sometimes it takes a while for the complex concepts to sink into your brain, or you don’tperform as expected in your exams. There are times you may feel like those students who always score great in their academics were born smart – regardless of how many extracurricular activities they undertake or how many times they skip classes, they always achieve excellent grades. Well, let’s stop you right there. No student is born smart. Those who achieve good grades are just more focused and disciplined. You can also be like them if you work on developing the winning habits we are going to discuss below. So, even if you do not feel like you have been scoring so great in your assignments and exams, the following tips will guide you on how to get good grades in college and achieve both your academic and career goals. Ready?
1. Be your own source of motivation
You are not in high school anymore and therefore there are so many things that you will need to differently. There is noparent or teacher to tell you what you should and should not do, nor remind you of some of the deadlines you need to meet every day. So you need to up your game and take responsibility. Know when to attend classes and when to work on your assignments. Your success highly depends on how well you utilize your time. Make good use of your college time and excellence will follow you every step of the way.
2. Choose your course wisely
Don’t settle for any course.Just because your friend did it and scored an A in all the subjects doesn’t mean it is the field for you. Consider enrolling in something you love. Evaluate every subject offered in the course carefully before making your selection. Even if you think it somehow sounds interesting, it is not a good idea to settle for it blindly. If possible, talk to the course coordinator to find out what each subject entails. That way, you will be able to make an informed decision.
3. Don’t overwork yourself
There are some studentswho think that taking up as many courses as the college allows is a mark of pride. It is not. If you do not end up bursting your brain, you will probably be among the poor performance of each class, something you don’t want. Take only the courses you can handle per semester and don’t be tempted to enroll for more than one major. Remember, some majors come with up to 10 required courses and taking too much than you can handle can seriously mess up with your GPA, especially when half of the courses in the major are things you are not interested in.
4. Manage your time properly
One of the secrets to achieving excellent grades in college is having good time management skills. Have a schedulefor all the things you need to do daily or weekly. Get a calendar, electronic or manual and key in all your classes, assignments, and exams. An electroniccalendar will be more effective because you can set daily or weekly reminders depending on what you are required to do. It would also be wise to enter your personal study hours in the schedule. Doing this will ensure that you have a proper plan for the entire semester. Just make sure to stick to it.
5. Go to class
Some students can miss a few classes in a semester and still perform well. While you may have a genuine reason for skipping your lectures, missing too many of your classes can really damage your GPA. Most lecturers reveal what will be in the essay or final exams in those classes so if you happen to miss these and your professor picks the exam questions from those very classes you missed, your grades will be highly affected. Therefore, make a habit of attending your classes even when you don’t like the lecturer or don’t fancy the subject, as this could make the difference between good and bad grades.
6. Do your assignments
As we just mentioned, there is no one to remind you of when you should do what you need to do. This applies even to the most important things like assignment and exams. If you don’t have a proper plan you will always find yourself missing submission deadlines or exam papers. But sometimes, especially when you are doing more than one course, you may have many projects assigned at the same time. If you ever find yourself in much a situation, your best bet is to seek college homework help from academic writing service providers so that you can have your assignments done by a professional and submitted on time. This is way better than having to redo the paper the following semester.
7. Study more
Lock yourself up in a room and study like you mean it. This can be painful, we know, but despite what all those students who score good grades tell you, this is how they do it. If you are completely focused, you only need one hour tops to grasp even the most complex topics. Just make sure to avoid all forms of distractions –no phone calls, no social media, no devices – just you and your notebook. But if you find solitary boring, get a friend and study together. Hoverer, it has to be someone who shares the same interests as you. You don’t want a study partner who is always gossiping about others or talking about the latest TV shows when you are supposed to be cracking a Matlab code!
8. Test yourself regularly
If you really want to achieve excellent grades at the end of the semester, keep testing yourself on what you have learnt. If you just covered a new topic and you feel like there are still few areas to master, plan on reading the concepts again during your free time. After that, look for past papers with questions from the same topic and try tackling them. You can have your professor look at what you have done and point out areas that you need to improve.
9. Join study groups
Two heads will always yield better results than one. Do not underestimate the power of study groups. Try to hook up with one at least twice a week and most especially when you are preparing for your exams. Working with other student with the same motive as you can help you improve your grades because you will learn something new. Sometimes a fellow student will explain a concept better than your lecturer will because they are alsolearning from you to improve their knowledge.
10. Always be prepared
Whether you are attending your class or doing an exam, be prepared for it. Do not wait until the last minute to start finding out what homework your professor issued in the last lesson. Similarly, don’t start preparing for your exam the night before. Learn to do things early. Do your homework well in advance so that by the time you are attending your class, you have already gone through it and have a god grasp of the basics. When it comes to exams, you can start studying for it one month before so that you will have little to cover a week or few days before the D-day. If you do this, you will definitely notice some improvement in your grades.
11. Ask questions
So far, we haven’t heard of a student who has been penalized for asking an academic related question in class. In fact, most professors will give students a chance to ask questions once they are through with the lessons. Always take advantage of these moments. Don’t let your lecturer leave the room when you still have doubts about something they mentioned earlier. It could be the only thing you need to win those fantastic grades.
12. Take care of yourself
Students whoscore straight As are not always buried in books; there are times when you will find them doing things that are not academic-related but if you dig deeper, these things play a major role in improving their grades. For instance, you will find them taking a jog every morning before attending their classes or cycling home after school. These simple exercises are very important because they boost the memory. Learn to work out on a regular basis before going to class, doing your assignments, or starting your self-study sessions and you will be surprised how fresh your mind gets. Eat a well-balanced diet too to keep your brain functioning optimally.