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How to Make Better Grades Staying up all night, cramming for exams, and cheating; none of these is a good example of how to make it through college and make good grades. With just a few structured steps, you will learn how to turn your grades from not so great to excellent. Your success in the future greatly depends on how successful you become during your college years. Many of the skills that you learn in college will become very helpful in your future, like being organized and being on time. The key to making good grades is to attend all classes, dedicate all of the time and effort needed, and being well organized.
The first step in making better grades in college is your attendance. Just because you are in college doesn’t mean that you don’t have to show up for classes. In order to keep up with all of the lectures, handouts, and information given by your instructor, you must be present in class as much as possible, only missing when it is absolutely necessary. When you skip a class, you may miss some valuable information or handouts that are needed in order to complete an assignment or study for an exam. You may also miss any questions that you may have being answered during class time.
Remember, you don’t want to be absent for class so much that you are not able to be absent at a time when it is truly needed. The next step to making good grades is dedicating time and effort. The goal is to set deadlines and stick to a strict schedule, which will allow you the correct amount of time needed in order to complete any task for school. Time is the most important tool that a student has, and it is essential when striving for good grades. Keeping a copy of all class syllabi is very important because it should contain a complete and detailed class schedule.
Making a study schedule for yourself will help you greatly at staying on track and staying focused. Sticking to a strict schedule will assure that all of your assignments will be completed on time, you will have plenty of time for studying, and you will make the grades in the process. The amount of time spent in class is a good amount of time to be spent studying and completing assignments on your own. For example, if you spend two hours in class, then two hours would be a good amount of time to study and finish any assignments. Be sure to always set aside distinct hours for studying and completing homework.
A good thing to remember is to always make sure to take plenty of time to study, and do not interrupt this time with any other activities until your scheduled study time is over. Listening to music, having a television on, or having other people around you may distract you from completing assignments or studying. The final step is to stay organized. College involves a lot of multitasking skills, due to all of the homework, studying, exams, and meetings. Being well organized will allow you to always be on schedule with any assignments or due dates, or even ahead of schedule if you wish.
You should keep all handouts, notes, and any other information from each of your classes, in separate folders or dividers so that everything stays separated and not mixed up together. Staying organized also allows you to stay focused on important tasks, and it also assures that no assignments are missed or overlooked. A good strategy for staying organized for school is to use a planner or make your own calendar. The use of a planner or calendar along with the use of your syllabus will assure that you stay on schedule with any homework or assignments, and that you will not miss any important due dates.
Another good way to stay organized is to make use of highlighters, sticky notes, or tabs. Highlighting important information in your books or notes is a very important step in staying organized because it is helpful when you begin studying. By following the three steps listed above, attending all of your classes, dedicating time and effort, and by staying organized, you will be able to make better grades in college. Remember that these college years will turn you into the person that you will be in the future; well organized, structured, punctual, and dependable.