School and Study Tips: Good Habits for Good Grades

School and Study Tips
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Introduction

These tips were mostly learned the hard way by getting less than desirable grades as a high school and college undergraduate student. Hopefully by sharing these tips I'll help others avoid the mistakes I made. By following these tips (most of the time), I was able to dramatically improve my grades at the end of my undergraduate schooling and throughout my graduate work.

The Tips

Learn to type. Not typing with two fingers while looking at the keyboard, but actually by using all 10 fingers without looking at the keyboard. If a good chunk of your school life (and work life) is spent typing, then isn't it a good idea to make this task as productive as possible? When I was an undergraduate, I found that a lot of my concentration while typing was diverted to the actual mechanics of looking for the next key. Sure, I could two-finger type quickly, but it's much easier for me to think about what I'm typing when I do not have to look for the next key.

Sit in the front row of the classroom. It's harder to fall asleep or be distracted when you're right in front of a teacher. Also, you'll be surrounded by like-minded individuals who want to succeed in class. This helps when you need to work with your neighbors on a group project.

Attend every class and arrive on time. It's easy to deceive yourself into thinking that missing a class or just a portion of a class won't hurt, but this can turn out to be the time when the teacher announces some critical piece of information that your buddy who is covering for you neglects to tell you about the information you missed.

Do all of the homework. Even if the subject seems easy, it might not sink in unless you do all of the homework.

Maximize every opportunity for credit. Don't calculate what assignments you can skip or do poorly on. Do your best on every assignment. Later, you might find that you needed the points you thought you didn't need.

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