Get Better Grades In College The Easy Way

Getting good grades without actually being smarter, begins on the first day of the semester and you reap the benefits around finals.

• �Be Slightly Late To Your Very First Class – This will help you get noticed by your professor, which is a good thing. It doesn’t always work with all teachers, but having them associate a face with a name on a term paper works to your advantage.
• Ask At Least One Question Per Week – Find a good one, and ask it. You want to get noticed by your professor right? Asking questions shows that you are engaged and actively thinking about the course content.
• Always Skim The Material Before Class – This includes readings you didn’t do, homework you didn’t finish, and projects that you half-assed. I can’t tell you how many times I didn’t read what I was supposed to – but with some careful less-that-one-minute scanning was able to participate in class. Never be the student who says “uhh, I didn’t read the assigned readings”. That never looks good.
• Stop By Class At Least Once Per Month – We all have questions about an assignment or course that we could keep to the end of class. Try to ask a it after class one day after the 2nd or third week. This way you have one-on-one time with your professor and makes you look extra studious since you’re spending some of your extra time trying to learn more.
• Form Study Groups – Study groups are in general a waste of time, but there is certainly information that you will overlook while cramming. The other members of you study group can highlight the little tidbits, pages, and facts that are sure to pop up on an exam.
• Sit Within the First Half of Seats Closest to the Front – Yeah, this one is a bit of a drag and makes you look a bit like a dork – which is what you want your professor to think. Sitting in the half of seats closest to your teacher also help to keep you awake, hear more, and be distracted less easily.
• Try Not to Skip The Classes Everyone Else Does – If you can at all help it, try to attend class when a large part of the campus is going to cut class. Right before a holiday, music festivals, and football games are lots of fun, but if you can at least stay for the first half of class (let your professor know you’ll be leaving early) it will make a good impression.
• Always Bring The Book, A Pen, and Some Paper – Everything else is extra (maybe a calculator for math). These essentials are a must so you can at least pretend to be studious.
• Stay Quiet – Talking in class to others (it’s worse the smaller the class) is a quick way to annoy your fellow students and professor. Plus, you won’t hear anything.

It is important to create a link in your professor’s mind between some name in their roster and your face. Many studies have been done on the effects of facial recognition and empathy and the results consistently show that people empathize more with those they are familiar with and people who look like people they know.

I once had a professor tell me she really liked a shirt I was wearing, because her husband had the same one. No sure fire way to get an ‘A’, but you can bet she remembered my face out of the 100 people in class while grading my papers!

I’d love to hear other little tips and tricks others may have used in college, school, and in different majors!