How To Get Good Grades Without Trying Too Hard

Hey everyone,

Well, it's finals time and I've seen a lot of people struggling. The guy who sits next to me in my law class was crying saying "I'll never finish, and I'll never make it to law school." Now, while in his case I agree with him, I think that many people are working very hard but not very intelligently.

I'm sure you are asking yourself "what qualifications does this guy have to tell me how to do my schoolwork better?" And, my skeptical friend, that's a good question. I'll now cast modesty aside and answer it...

On second thought, I'm not going to brag. I just erased an entire paragraph of bragging cause even I couldn't stomach it. Please just believe me that I get great grades and I don't work all that hard. It's not that I'm super smart, I've just been a student forever. If all my classes were applied towards college progression my credit count would put me in my last semester of most masters programs. But I digress...here is my little guide to getting great grades.

Getting great grades consists of three parts, class choice, class work, and testing. I will discuss each portion in turn.

CLASS CHOICE

Your choice of classes makes all the difference. Most people just look at the classes they need but not the professors. This is a huge mistake. In most cases the difficulty of the class is determined by the professor far more than the subject matter. I've taken the same class twice from different professors and I was amazed at the difference in curriculum and difficulty. Read ratings of professors on Ratemyprofessor.com to get a general feel for their style and workload. Talk to other people in your major. When you find a professor you like take every class you can from them (well at least take every required class you can from them). They will always favor you and they will someday (if you go on to grad school) write you a letter of recommendation. Picking the right professors provides your foundation each semester.

Sometimes you can't know the professor ahead of time, if this is the case you need to go to the class and get a feel for it. Professors that talk about how hard they are on the first day aren't always that hard. Often, they just hate huge class loads and they want to get rid of bad students. The most important thing to look for is whether they love the subject and they care about their students. If they do, take the class. If not, defer the class till someone else teaches it. Sometimes the most difficult classes are the most rewarding so don't be afraid of hard classes, just make sure you have the time to do well before you take them.

One important thing to remember is that not all credits are created equal. People often measure their workload by how many credits they have. This just isn't accurate. Writing intensive classes and highly technical classes (i.e. English or Math respectively) will take far more time than a class that is text/multiple choice based. Also, larger classes are generally easier than smaller classes. By this I mean that there is a general limit to how much work a teacher will give (they are lazy too) and so a 6 credit class won't be twice as much work as a 3 credit class. Additionally, there is a minimal limit of work any teacher will give (so they don't feel guilty) so a .5 credit or 1 credit class is usually never worth it. Whenever possible take a small amount of large classes over many small classes, the difference in work load is amazing.

CLASS WORK

The first thing you need to do is go over the syllabus. Check the syllabus of all your classes and see where the bottlenecks will be. If you have 3 papers due at the same time you might want to start one early (it hurts me to say this). Try to manage your time so your semester remains consistent. I am bad at this but when I've done it I was much happier.

Develop a rapport with your professor. After you get one of your first assignments go to his/her office hours and say something like the following:
"Hey professor, I just went over the assignment you returned. I got #3 wrong and I'm not sure why. I did x and y and z and it was still marked wrong. What could I do better?" This will make the professor think you are a very conscientious student and they will be concerned about your grade because every professor deep down wants those who work hard to succeed (or they're a horrible teacher and you failed during class choice). Make sure you know exactly what you did wrong so that when the professor lets you know what was wrong you sound intelligent and capable as you "learn" from him/her. This will give them a great impression of you. When the time comes to put out grades most teachers will round up if they think you worked hard by around 1/2 a percent. When they do your grade they will remember your diligence. Also, this will make it so they know your name so that when you work with them or need help later they will have a greater interest in you. Make sure you ask for help before the last minute. You want to build the relationship with your professor at the very beginning. Most students come in and cry at the end asking for help...don't be that student.

TESTING

Testing is where your grades come from, and because of this, it is probably the most important section of this tutorial. You need to know the way your professor tests. Usually, this can be ascertained by asking other students, but as a general rule, you will test differently, so take their advice skeptically (unless you are very familiar with their capabilities as a student). Always over-study for the first test. You want to do extremely well on the first exam, work as hard as you can, and from that first test gauge how much study will be needed on future exams. If you bomb the first test (most people do in hard classes) you'll be playing catch up the rest of the semester. Only after you ace the first exam can you get confident and calculate where you can cut corners.

Once you get a feel for the testing style of the professor (and grading) it is important to figure out what kind of tests he gives and plan study time accordingly. Here are test types you might see (and the time you should dedicate to each).

Take home open book essay: This requires no work on your part. On a paper like this what you do is just read one part of the required reading very well--become an expert on it. Skim the rest of the reading. When you write your paper you demonstrate expertise with the one part you know well and summarily mention in passing connections to the rest of your text. This shows mastery as well as the ability to think at a higher level by making connections. These are the two things most professors grade on. When you write this way, you read less and you look better. A win win in my book.

Take home closed book: Study like crazy cause your integrity is on the line...you don't want to be tempted.

Testing center multiple choice: This requires the least amount of studying as far as the testing center goes. Multiple choice tests by nature aren't hard. Almost always you can logically dismiss two answers and that normally leaves you 2 possibilities. At a 50 percent chance (and with whatever information you have) you should be able to guess your way into an A.

Testing center fill in the blank: Fill in the blank requires you to actually familiarize yourself with the material. Normally this format is done with a study guide posted online, or at least a key terms list. If not, scan the text for key terms and write them down. This is just one step up from multiple choice. You lose guessing power but with the small amount of extra study required your score should be equivalent to a multiple choice.

Testing Center Short Answer: This is usually pretty easy. Most terms are self-explanatory. Also, in the length of a short answer you normally can't go into enough depth to display your ignorance. This is usually pretty easy unless the exam is very technical.

Testing Center Essay closed book: This generally is the worst. You need to have read the material well enough to make connections and write intelligently. Spend your time on this one to get it right. After you get the first exam back you can find out what level of detail is required. In some cases you will not need to study all that much. Either way, essay questions are usually graded moderately. You'll never score that low. Usually bad answers are B's and good ones are A's. This isn't always the case but it is a general rule, just take heart that if you're not prepared for an essay question you wont score that low.

In class exams follow similar rules to the testing center answers. The only difference is you need to realize that time is limited in the class so there will be less information on the test and essay questions will be shorter. When you take an in class exam it will generally be easier. Also, always look at the point value of questions and answer the high point value ones first. If there are essay questions combined with multiple choice do the essays first. If time becomes short you can't write an essay at the last minute but you can fill in bubbles at the last minute.

Essays: When you have a final essay for a class make sure you start the essay the day it is given. I'm not saying that you should be productive and actually get much done. You just need to get over that initial hurdle and start the project. Once you start you'll have read the instructions and your mind will start playing with the idea when you have free time. Just looking at the requirements outside of class gives you a great start. So, start early. You'll be glad you did. Even if it's just a sentence you'll be amazed at how much that helps in the long run. And then get the paper done whenever you can. In my case that is generally at the last minute.



My hands are tired so I wont go on. I think the best advice you can get is to enjoy learning. If you love the subject the grades will come. But, since life is rarely friendly to such idealism, the next best advice is to make school a game and learn how to play it. This tutorial is written from the perspective of school as a game. People who take school too seriously over study and do poorly. Either love it or make it fun...never loathe it or make it duty--your grades will show it if you do.

Good luck in your classes everyone! Good luck with finals!