How to Get Straight A's in College

How can you get straight A's in college without trying hard? Anyone can get good grades if you put in a massive amount of time and mental energy-the trick is to spend very little time on your studies and still receive all A's.

This frees up your time for other pursuits, such as your social life, part-time job, or an entrepreneurial endeavor you are involved with. Here are my tips for boosting your grades, without boosting the amount of time you spend studying or attending class:

Prioritize effectively

Professors like to say that 2 hours of study time should be spent for every 1 hour of class time. Of course, this is ridiculous and unnecessary. If you are a strong English student, for example, spend less time studying for an English exam than for your Math exams. Also spend the vast majority of your time in areas that will contribute the most to your grade: if an essay is only worth 5% of your grade according to the syllabus, and yet your final exam is worth 45% of the grade, obviously don't spend too much time on the essay. Focus most of your energy and available time on memorizing the material that may appear on the final exam.

Decide when you need to attend

Some classes regularly take attendance and have a strong "attendance component" in the grading guidelines. For these classes, you will unfortunately have to attend most of the time. But for large lecture halls where attendance is not taken, don't feel the need to go every week. Make sure you memorize the material being taught, and occasionally show up so you don't miss any important announcements, but in general you can use this time to do work for classes you are more concerned about.

Don't spend time worrying about exams

While everyone else is gossiping about how hard the final exam is going to be, you should be quietly memorizing everything you need to know. I recommend creating a "slideshow" with all of the important facts and figures on your computer-use PowerPoint if you have it. Then go through the slideshow several times each day-especially in the morning and immediately before bed-until you have the material memorized. Many students like to "cram" minutes before the exam. You should not do this. While everyone else is chattering about last minute facts and details, you can relax and wait for the exam to begin because you have used your time effectively. Last-minute studying is not effective; doing a few minutes of slideshow memorization each day, however, is highly effective. In general, you can learn about twenty to thirty "slides" of information per day. (For some people, it may be less or more. Don't worry if you can only memorize ten slides per day.)

Go for easy points

If there is an online participation or class participation component of your class grade, do it! Raise your hand and say something from time to time so you rake in those participation points. Although rarely a large component of the grade, if participation is worth more than 5% of your final grade you should regularly participate. If a professor knows you by name, she will also be more likely to grant you a "break" if you do poorly on the exams. Attitude goes a long way. Online participation, such as submitting a paragraph each evening on Blackboard, is another easy way to rake in points.