If you’re not doing as well as you’d like in school, don’t worry. Most of us don’t. Why is that? Because most of us were never taught how to get good grades in school. If you’re as frustrated as I am, read this short “recipe” for the 4 ingredients you need to completely improve your grades. The good news is that you don’t have to be perfect in all 4 areas. But you have to aim to be really good at 2 or 3.
1) hard work
This is the first because it is common sense. It was drilled into our heads from the time we were little children. You have to work hard and be productive if you want to do well in school, right? Well, that’s kind of true. But if you have the other 3 ingredients well defined, you won’t have to work as hard as other students. Have you ever heard of beating a dead horse? That’s what most students do. They assume their grades are bad because they don’t try hard enough. So they study longer instead of studying smarter. Then they burn and give up all together.
With that being said, you should try to put a reasonable amount of work into your classes. Enough to get at least a C, but not enough to burn out.
2) Memory
When it comes to learning, memory is king. So it can suck if you have a bad memory. Fortunately, you can Learn to have an amazing memory. The web is full of guides on how to improve memory. Do a search for one that sounds interesting and give it a try. If you learn one of these methods by heart, you’ll not only get good grades, but you’ll also impress your friends and teachers. Some techniques you might want to look at are the memory link method and the pin list.
3) Good test taking
You can study and memorize all you want, but it won’t help if you go blank as soon as the test hits your desk. Knowing how to stay calm and collected during a test is a great skill to have.
Also, learn good test-taking skills. You should know the tricks of answering multiple choice questions and how to “fake” when answering essay questions. Having good test-taking skills can make the difference between a C and an A.
4) Write good articles
If you hate writing articles, I’m sorry, but get used to it. If you want good grades in college, learn to write good papers.
Lucky for you, writing good articles is easy when you know how to do it. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to write the paper for your teacher. Know what they are looking for. After all, they are the ones grading it, right? Imagine that you are your instructor and you are about to grade your work. What kinds of things would you be looking for?
That’s all! Those 4 tips are more than enough to get you started. Like I said, try to get really good at two or three of those points, and you’ll be surprised how much your grades improve. Good luck!