How do you obtain straight As in your classes?

[Lucca]

Do you guys actively pay attention in class? I can't for the life of me get myself to pay attention in class. I study after class on my own.

But I know it makes a world of difference. People say that they'll only pay attention during class and just review the week before the exam.

It's just when I can't follow the professor in class when he's discussing a difficult concept, I lose all focus and give up and just browse the web instead.

1) don't bring your laptop or phone to class. I did this to prevent web surfing. 2) read the textbook or lecture notes (if you can) beforehand. This way all of the material will be familiar to you and you won't zone out when you get to something that you don't understand. 3) try to build some discipline, see above.

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[NeuResurgens]

3) IF you take classes that includes criteria other than exams, make sure to treat those points just as if they were exams. In the end, you will realize that these are the easiest points to gain AND lose.

This is very important. If there's homework, get it done. Those points can make a world of difference if you have a less than stellar outing on one of the exams.

 

[Oranges2]

Recorded lectures and when reviewing, I would listen to the recordings/took notes in addition to the notes I took in class.

 

[mehc012]

That sounds super cool. I am totally going to check it out!

I googled it and found a few free Anki sites. Do you have a particular preference with any one site? @mehc012

It's not a website...I mean, it has a website, but it's a free, full-fledged program first and foremost.
Check my signature - I have a thread called Anki Central which should get you started. You can download the program from ankisrs.net!

 

[altblue]

Plus what others have said, time spent matters too. So students I see can struggle with these things.

1. Do you have a possible health issue or mental disorder that will interfere with your studying?
2. Do you possibly have a learning disability you have not addressed?
3. Are you taking too many credits?
4. Are you easily distracted and need to cut out some of these things?
5. Do you have too many outside things going on (ECs, work?)
6. Are you getting enough sleep?

You should put the time in, and you should be at your best when you put the time in, for these good grades.

Honestly answer these questions (you should spend some time thinking about at least one or two!) before you take the other posters' very good advice about efficiently studying for your individual classes.

That said, if your gpa is already solid (3.6+), you shouldn't worry about straight A's, but fairly evaluating your study habits is still helpful.

 

[cactus8910]

5. Do you have too many outside things going on (ECs, work?)

On the other hand, it's possible to have too much free time (AKA not enough outside things going on). I've always found I do better when I have so much going on that I'm forced to use my time efficiently.

 

[mehc012]

On the other hand, it's possible to have too much free time (AKA not enough outside things going on). I've always found I do better when I have so much going on that I'm forced to use my time efficiently.

👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍👍
So. Much. Agreement.

 

[beebreezy]

Major in the humanities/liberal arts. Spend every day of your life studying past midnight for prereqs. It's working for me so far lol.

 

[altblue]

On the other hand, it's possible to have too much free time (AKA not enough outside things going on). I've always found I do better when I have so much going on that I'm forced to use my time efficiently.

True, but I'm talking about the 18 credit 10-20 hr research 10 hr club+volunteer freshmen who dont sleep I had seen all the time. That kind of thing

 

[meander]

Make a spreadsheet/gradebook for yourself every semester based on the syllabi from your classes. Fill it out as the semester progresses so you always know exactly what you need to do in order to get an A. I've heard so many of my classmates say "I was above average on all the midterms so I thought I didn't have to worry about the homework points" or "I studied really hard for that quiz" (when the quiz was only worth 1% of the final grade) or "I had no idea that the attendance points could drop me a full letter grade!". It will help you prioritize your time and be more productive to know which courses truly need your attention and which courses you can let slide. For example, the semester I took Orgo I I knew by the beginning of finals that I only needed 60% on my other classes' midterms in order to clinch As, so I was able to spend my entire reading period studying *only* Orgo.

 

[Abraxas305]

I'm the opposite. I crush the first exams, then by the end I get bored. Usually I'm still fine on the exams, but sometimes I let all the busywork pile up and prevent any studying and then I do poorly on the later ones.
I haven't done this since starting my postbacc, of course, but it was the main explanation for my shoddy undergrad. It's easy to put in effort at the beginning when you're still super excited about what you're going to learn. Harder to do so at the end when you've already gotten what you want out of the course but have to scurry around doing stuff solely for grades.

Lol same here. I usually am in the top 3 in my class when it comes to exams but stuff like lab reports, HW, busywork, etc I usually do them last minute.
I always try to destroy the first couple of exams so I won't have to study as hard later on lol.