How to get straight A’s in college

A lot of people think that to get good grades you have to be a genius or study all the time. But that’s not true.

A grade is just a measure of performance–often subjective–in a class. So to get good grades requires the far less impressive skill: being able to perform well in a class.

At Stanford, I learned a few tricks to be a better student (I finished with 40 A’s and 3 B’s, for a GPA of 3.97). In the spirit of sharing, here are a few suggestions to get better grades and help you in getting straight A’s in college:

Be self-motivated: grades can matter
No one has ever told me the most important part of college was grades. Frankly, I’d be scared to meet such a person.

The college experience is so vast and enriching that grades are not always the most important thing. I knew people that were training for the Olympics. I knew other people that started businesses and were meeting with venture capitalists. I knew other people that devoted time to relationships–some of these couples are now married–and I’d say that this was probably a better use of time than grades given how happy they are.

But I also know a lot of people who under-performed in class and regret it.

Grades do matter for jobs, more than I would have thought. This is certainly true in government jobs, some of which have specific GPA requirements. One of my good friends had a 2.96 GPA that prevented him from getting a job with a 3.0 GPA minimum (the recruiter was not amused when he asked if they would “round up” his GPA).

A lot of consulting and finance jobs have GPA requirements as well. When I applied, a top management consulting company had a 3.7 GPA cutoff for their first round interviews.

Whether these standards are justifiable is something of a moot argument. They exist and companies believe they matter. The practical reality is grades can open doors at many top notch jobs, and you’d be better off getting good grades.

But to get good grades you have to really want it. College is too full of distractions and other opportunities and no one is going to hold your hand. It’s important to be self-motivated so you can follow through on what needs to be done.

Which brings me to my first tip.

Tip 1: Ask for model papers
I could never tell what a teacher wanted in a writing-based class. I’ve turned in terrible papers that have gotten A’s. And I’ve also turned in highly polished, highly researched papers that have gotten a B minus–the teacher didn’t like my writing style.

Rather than guessing what they wanted, I eventually learned ways to learn what they wanted.

The turning point for me was a freshman writing class. We were supposed to compare and contrast the morality lessons in two short-stories. A younger me would have just tackled the assignment the way I saw fit. But I realized it would be better to admit I didn’t know what I was doing.

I realized I had never written anything like this. My high school English department was good. But we never had to write big essays comparing works. Our assignments were always literary criticism of one text at a time–the more you hyper-analyzed a work of Shakespeare, for instance, the better.

So I just admitted this to the instructor. I told her I didn’t know what I was doing and I asked to see a model paper.

We met a day later at the humanities department. She went to some old file cabinets and retrieved model papers from previous years. She photocopied a couple for me to take home.

I read over these essays several times. I tried to emulate both the style and the structure of the papers. I paid particular attention to how the thesis was formed and how the authors cited textual evidence.

I carried these lessons when writing my paper. I received an A grade and the teacher commented how well I did, saying I picked up the style and it seemed quite natural for me. And to my ultimate astonishment, she then asked if she could use my paper as a model!

And I can honestly say I was surprised because I was not the best writer in the class. Not by a longshot. There were people who majored in English and History in my class.

But I did well because I knew what the teacher expected in a paper. I was the only student to ask for examples of model papers.

Tip 2: Get old tests
Just as a model paper can help you in a writing class, an old test can help you in a technical class.

An old test can give you an idea of the structure of the exam and the types of questions that will be asked. While a professor is unlikely to ask the same exact questions, it does happen from time to time. This is especially true when the professor is a new person and is too lazy to write new exam questions. I always made sure I could solve these old exams cold.

Some professors were nice enough to give us old tests. In this case, the strategy was slightly different. I was pretty sure the professor would not repeat the same exam material, so I focused a bit more on other topics. I still spent good time learning these questions–after all, what is more embarrassing than missing a question when the teacher gives it to you in advance!

The biggest payoff is when you can get a copy the professor does not release to the class. It helps here to know people who just took the class (my friend’s business fraternity cataloged exams of popular classes). These questions are gold can you can try them in a mock exam setting.

Tip 3: Read other textbooks
I never understood how professors picked textbooks. Some professors picked textbooks they owned. Others picked textbooks a previous professor used for consistency.

The thing I learned is that textbooks were not always chosen because they were the best. It stunned me that in a college setting, where students shelled out so much money, the educational material could be sub-par.

Some of your confusion could be your textbook! There were many times I was confused in economics and math courses about basic theorems and definitions. I tried my best to understand them from the book. But when that failed, I tried something else.

I remember a time I was really confused in differential geometry. The book had defined something and it seemed very vague to me. The professor had only recycled the same examples in class so I was lost.

I knew this was an important topic so I figured I had to learn it. I went to the math library and looked up books on differential geometry. There were two and I promptly looked up the same topic in them. Within minutes I came across a graphic and an example that made perfect sense to me. The resulting problem set was a breeze and I was very comfortable with the concept going forward.

I admit I was lucky in finding the right books. But there were times I could not find alternate textbooks to explain things. And that’s when I tried the next tip.

Tip 4: Review course material from another university (or from another prof)
If you can’t understand your professor, try someone else.

There’s a decent chance your same class material is being taught at another university. It’s often possible to find that course material using Google searches and go through the lecture notes, the problems, and the discussions.

I especially needed this during an advanced game theory course I took where the majority of the class was second year PhD students. The statistics were over my head and I was lost many times. I found course material for both the statistics and the game theory portions and pieced together the information.

This tip works very well for introductory classes, like linear algebra and introductory physics as virtually every university offers these classes.

BORING stuff I did to get good grades
While those four big tips helped give me the edge, they weren’t the only reason I got good grades. I did a lot of the basic things people talk about all the time. Here are a few of the mundane habits I kept.

Plenty of sleep
I am a stickler about getting a full-night’s rest. This is a personal thing, though I have heard sleeping is important to learning. At a minimum it helped me stay relaxed and I was never irritable like those people on 4 hours sleep.

Studied 4-6 hours every day
I studied most days. The routine for me was to study in the afternoons and just after dinner. I often studied from 3pm-6pm, took an hour from dinner, and then from 7pm-10pm. It would of course change when I had errands or wanted to play basketball, but it was generally a routine.

Scheduled in a daily planner
I always wrote down midterms and finals from the start of the class. I always wanted to be prepared and it’s why I rarely did things at the last minute. Many times I would plan my days out hour-by-hour so I could have a plan and stay focused.

Went to office hours if needed
I knew too many people who tried to figure things out by themselves. Learning isn’t just about sitting with a book and hacking away. It’s a dynamic process and discussion can often help. If I spent more than a day trying to figure something out, I’d go to to the professor or teaching assistant and ask for some pointers.

“Memorized class notes” and problems by final exam
I figured course notes and material were a good guideline of the testing material. I made sure to have this material down pat. For math classes I made a list of theorems and definitions and got those down cold. Most of the test was variations on these concepts, so just knowing them gave me a huge advantage.

Self-explanatory tips
These really should go without saying, but I of course did these things:

• Went to tutors
• Picked professors and classes wisely
• Read the syllabus
• Completed course material
• Studied at the library

Kept balance with exercise, other clubs, friends
It’s easy to burn out on academics. I always made sure to schedule 2 or more hours in a day to free time with friends and/or exercise.

Tips I didn’t do
There are a few commonly accepted tips I did not follow.

I never ate a traditional breakfast
I usually just had a banana while heading to morning class. Since I didn’t spend much time on breakfast, I could wake up a bit later and personally I was happy with the sleep. Though I do know many people that swore by their morning meal, missing this did not ultimately affect my grades.

I skipped sections, and sometimes class
There were some professors and teaching assistants that managed to confuse everyone. One of my statistics teacher showed a slide of a Venn Diagram with overlapping circles and claimed the events were “mutually exclusive.” When a student pointed out there was an intersecting area–the non-mutually exclusive part–the professor merely said “oh that’s a typo” and told the class to ignore it. What followed was the most confusing and convoluted example I’ve ever heard. Attendance in the class was optional and I never went again (I was one of the few that got an A+).

What are your tips?
If you’re a good student I’m sure there are a lot of people who could benefit from your advice.

Did you get good grades? Did it matter after you graduated? What are your tips on getting good grades?