Tips to go from B+ to an A

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I'm a pretty consistent B/B+ student. I know what study methods work for me to get me a B+ in most science classes. I'm wondering what I should refine in order to make the jump to an A student.
My current study methods:
For information heavy courses, like most biology classes, I thoroughly review each lecture at least 4 times. I make tick marks at the top of each page of notes/printout, and I find that information is easier to memorize each pass through. I space this out from the day of the lecture to 1-2 days before the test.
I re-listen to lecture podcasts for some courses and fill in gaps in my notes. I didn't feel the need to do this for Ochem, but for Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, etc. it's been helpful.
I quiz myself with flashcards, mock test questions, and practice tests.
I go to office hours with any topics that I feel shaky on.

I'm not sure what more to do to start getting consistent A's rather than B+'s.

Thanks!

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I faced similar issues in my undergrad. Best advice is to study past test and exams. And analyze the professors testing methods and focus on that. I turned all my B+s to and A
 
Thanks for the tip. What do you do for classes when you can't get old exams?
 
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I'm a pretty consistent B/B+ student. I know what study methods work for me to get me a B+ in most science classes. I'm wondering what I should refine in order to make the jump to an A student.
My current study methods:
For information heavy courses, like most biology classes, I thoroughly review each lecture at least 4 times. I make tick marks at the top of each page of notes/printout, and I find that information is easier to memorize each pass through. I space this out from the day of the lecture to 1-2 days before the test.
I re-listen to lecture podcasts for some courses and fill in gaps in my notes. I didn't feel the need to do this for Ochem, but for Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, etc. it's been helpful.
I quiz myself with flashcards, mock test questions, and practice tests.
I go to office hours with any topics that I feel shaky on.

I'm not sure what more to do to start getting consistent A's rather than B+'s.

Thanks!


it's really hard to get A's in upper level class unless you change your method of studying.
For lower level classes, we are used to studying powerpoints or straight from books, so the learning is pretty passive most of the time.
For upper level classes, passive studying is not enough to earn you A's. You have to ask yourself what is important to know.
Instead of just reading the powerpoints and books and trying to pick out the correct answer from multiple choice, ask yourself questions and mentally answer them.

When you read the powerpoint, you think you know them, but if you were asked about them, can you answer them in an articulate manner?
Pratice asking yourself questions and answering them in an articulate manner.
 
Thanks for the tip. What do you do for classes when you can't get old exams?

go talk to the professor. ask them what you should focus on, etc, etc.
They are usually happy to talk to you and give you pointers.
 
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I'm a pretty consistent B/B+ student. I know what study methods work for me to get me a B+ in most science classes. I'm wondering what I should refine in order to make the jump to an A student.
My current study methods:
For information heavy courses, like most biology classes, I thoroughly review each lecture at least 4 times. I make tick marks at the top of each page of notes/printout, and I find that information is easier to memorize each pass through. I space this out from the day of the lecture to 1-2 days before the test.
I re-listen to lecture podcasts for some courses and fill in gaps in my notes. I didn't feel the need to do this for Ochem, but for Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, etc. it's been helpful.
I quiz myself with flashcards, mock test questions, and practice tests.
I go to office hours with any topics that I feel shaky on.

I'm not sure what more to do to start getting consistent A's rather than B+'s.

Thanks!
I went from consistently getting in the C- to B range my first 2yrs of undergrad to getting straight A's by only doing one of the things you mentioned. First off, youre overworking yourself with too many study strategies, many of which arent effective enough for that deep understanding youll need for an A.

Always attend class, especially if it is challenging, so youll know if the exams are based on slides and/or textbooks and to see what is emphasized.

Here is my strategy: Skim through the first powerpoint slides or chapter just to get an idea of what it is about. Then go back to the start and begin writing multiple choice, matching, short answer and possibly essay questions based on the material. Write the answers on a separate sheet of paper with explanations if need be. Do this for all slides/chapters that will be on the real exam and then take your practice test you made as if it were a real test once or twice. Thatll really hammer it in and the real exam will be cake.
 
This is going to sound silly, but for many classes, the professor has to like you to give you an A. Profs are human too. Sit near the front, participate in class, bring up extra information in office hours ("Hey, I was watching this Ted Talk on sensory perception the other day, and I was wondering if you've seen it. It talked about x, y, z and I think it really related to what we're talking about in class right now.").
Other than that, try to get inside the professor's head. If you were teaching this course, what would you try to trick students on? What would you want them to know?
 
This is going to sound silly, but for many classes, the professor has to like you to give you an A. Profs are human too. Sit near the front, participate in class, bring up extra information in office hours ("Hey, I was watching this Ted Talk on sensory perception the other day, and I was wondering if you've seen it. It talked about x, y, z and I think it really related to what we're talking about in class right now.").
Other than that, try to get inside the professor's head. If you were teaching this course, what would you try to trick students on? What would you want them to know?


Getting an A has orobably not much to do with whether professor likes you or not, unless you are borderlining between B and A.

But i agree about getting inaide the professor's head.
 
First off, youre overworking yourself with too many study strategies, many of which arent effective enough for that deep understanding youll need for an A.

Always attend class, especially if it is challenging, so youll know if the exams are based on slides and/or textbooks and to see what is emphasized.

I do make sure to attend class. But I find that I have to read the notes multiple times over to really understand the material, especially for biochemistry courses. I simply don't get what they're talking about until I've read them about 3 times. I don't know how to avoid that study strategy and jump straight to practice questions. But making your own practice tests is a great idea! I'm going to try that
 
Teaching material is the best way to master it. Find a friend to exercise with and go through your class material during that.
 
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It definitely helps to attend every single class and sit up near the front. One day I took my midterm to the professor after class to see what I did wrong on a question and how to do it right the next time (I did poorly on this exam, got a D..I screwed up and didn't study for the exam), and he gave me enough partial credit to bump my exam grade up to a C because he said he noticed that I come to class every day and am paying attention (I don't really pay attention, I just look like I am..this class is incredibly boring).

Now I'm going to study my rear-end off for the final exam and pull a high A, and I'm pretty sure he would give me an A in the class. He told us in class that since the final is cumulative, if you did poorly on the midterm and did well on the final he would take it into consideration. So this along with him knowing that I show up to class every day and sit up front and pay attention, makes me think there's a good chance he would still give me an A for my final grade even though I screwed up on the midterm.

So yes, it definitely helps to get positively noticed by the professor. But you need to realize that it's just a small bonus that *could* bump you from a 92.6 to a 93. To get an A you have to perform.

I started university with a 2.3 gpa, and now I'm consistently getting all A's. I attend class so I know what the professor emphasizes most, and to get an explanation of something if I'm having trouble with it. Then I just study the powerpoints and the book until I've understood and memorized the material. While doing this I also listen to audio recordings of the lecture if I need to go over the professors' explanation of the material. This is good because I can go over it multiple times until I understand and memorize it. I also go back to every single homework/quiz/midterm problem and make sure I understand how to do them. This is how I get an A.

It seems like you are doing a lot to study, and if you still aren't getting A's then you may just need to simply spend more time studying. If you feel like you learned absolutely everything and you're not getting A's, then identify what the problem is. Are the exam questions different than what you expected? Then you need to figure out what kind of questions to expect by asking the professor and paying attention to what the professor talks about in class and also by thinking about what the most important concepts are.

Getting an A takes a LOT more time than getting a B. People don't realize it. But if you think about it, an A is at the very minimum a 93% (most of the time). That means that if there's 100 questions on an exam, you can only miss 7. And sometimes you miss questions because of a mistake, not that you don't know how to do it. The stakes are twice as high if your exam is 50 questions. So you have to realize how well you need to know the material.

For me, I need to go over each concept numerous times until I properly understand it and have memorized it; then I move on to the next concept and so on until I've learned all the material. I recommend learning one concept at a time until you fully understand and can apply it, then move on to the next one.

I spent 16 straight hours studying before one of my final exams in a class that I was already pretty good at, and I got like a 96% on the exam. Treat school as a full-time job.

One of my professors offered me a tutoring job with the university because I did so well in his class. The class average before the curve was probably 60%, and I got like a 95% before the curve.

Sorry for the long post, I tend to ramble. Good luck.
 
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It's not enough to just understand the material for the A. You need to know the material forwards, backwards, upside down, circled, squared, zig zag, in your sleep, blindfolded, etc. Everyone is different but for me, this is done through repetition. Whether it's reading the book, slides, or whatever, I always have to repeat it SEVERAL times until it's mastered. And even then, I repeat it a few more times. The only science class I've gotten Bs in was physics. And this includes biochem. I'm just afraid in dental school I really won't have that kind of time on my hands.
 
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It's not enough to just understand the material for the A. You need to know the material forwards, backwards, upside down, circled, squared, zig zag, in your sleep, blindfolded, etc. Everyone is different but for me, this is done through repetition. Whether it's reading the book, slides, or whatever, I always have to repeat it SEVERAL times until it's mastered. And even then, I repeat it a few more times. The only science class I've gotten Bs in was physics. And this includes biochem. I'm just afraid in dental school I really won't have that kind of time on my hands.

That's what I meant by understanding the material. I learn the same way as you, I need to go over the material (powerpoints, book, audio recording of lecture, homework/quiz problems, etc) numerous times until I have mastered the material. In dental school you definitely don't need a 4.0, nor are you expected to achieve a 4.0. Even if you are applying for a specialty, you don't need a 4.0. There's not much you can do except for managing your time better.
 
What I do ,has worked for me for the past couple years. I go over power points and make questions about every single little thing that could be asked

Then I answer the questionnaire page by page. After the end of the first page , I memorize the answer for each question. After the second page and subsequent pages , I memorize and recite everything from the first page, this way you are reciting over and over the previous pages. This takes a long time to do , but it always assured me a 90+ grade in exams.

Oh btw. While going through questions , if I didn't understand something , I would go back to the podcast , or youtube it. But as long as you understand the material , the rest is memorization.

If you do this method , your brain will be ready to answer questions about the material.


Cheers.


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While I was a UTF for Biology I and an SI for Organic chemistry a number of students would ask me how they would know if they'd mastered the material well enough to do well on the exam. I taught them - once you can teach it you know it. I don't just mean look at the slides and mumble through the information as you read it, I mean look at a key word like Meiosis and then with out and visual queues teach every step, feature, and how it flows together etc.

Once you can teach something fluently you know it well enough to do well on an exam. The hard part is achieving that level of comprehension. I also found that many students memorize facts without understand standing how the information flows and works together, which is how most professors, esp in upper level biology and chemistry courses test.

Something that helps me achieve a deep level of understanding is to look at a slide, spend some time memorizing the content, then I'll close my eyes or look away to test to see if I can recite every piece of information on that slide to myself as the professor taught it - I'm practically teaching myself the content to see if I've mastered it. I keep doing that until I can go from the top of the slide or page and fluently teach myself the content without and help.

This can take a while if you're really memorizing and conceptualizing everything, but that time investment is the difference between an A and a B.

That's just what I've done and it helped me personally. It took me from being a C/B student to straight A's.

Good luck and I hope this helps in some way!
 
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