6 Secrets of Successful Students

You know who I’m talking about – that girl that seems to effortlessly get A’s on all her projects and tests; that guy that smiles everyday like going to college is a breeze – how do they do it????

They make it look a lot easier than it is. In fact, there are some things that they do consistently to keep their marks so high.  These things aren’t huge – but doing them all makes a big difference.  If you’re struggling with your grades, try implementing these tactics and watch your grades improve almost immediately:

1. They LISTEN and Take Notes

Successful students don’t sit in a lecture and doze off, daydream, text their friends or update their Twitter.  They actually listen and take notes of things like other info to look up, pages in the text the instructor might mention, and important information that is usually indicated by a change in the instructor’s voice or the instructor writing something on the board.

2. They Do Their Reading On Time

Are you putting off reading and finding that it is piling up?  Students that are getting those high marks are doing their reading assignments when they are supposed to.  They know that if they get behind it will be almost impossible to catch up!

3. They Talk to the Instructor When They Have Questions or Problems

Don’t ignore problems and hope they’ll go away or questions and hope you’ll just figure it out.  Talk to your instructor right away.  Your instructors want you to succeed and if there is some way that they can help you, they will.  But they can’t help if they don’t know what the problem is.

4. Go to Class

This is common sense.  You paid to go to school so why wouldn’t you take advantage of the classes that are there for you?  The truth is that students who miss a lot of class miss out on valuable information that they might not get anywhere else.  So, put the effort in to show up!

5. Keep Up with Assignments

Make a plan to get assignments done on time.  Figure out how much time it will take to do an assignment and then make sure you have enough time allotted to do it.  Try to get started as soon as the assignment is given out so that at least you have a good start.

6. Step Up as a Leader in Group Projects
 

Group projects might not be your favorite thing to do but they are good practice for real life.  Working with others is an essential skill.  By stepping up to be the leader in the group (no one else usually wants to do this anyway) you can make sure that you have control over the mark that your group gets.  Stay on task and follow up with the group members.