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Looking to jumpstart your GPA? Most college students believe that
straight A’s can be achieved only through cramming and painful
all-nighters at the library. But Cal Newport knows that real
straight-A students don’t study harder—they study smarter. A
breakthrough approach to acing academic assignments, from quizzes
and exams to essays and papers, How to Become a Straight-A
Student reveals for the first time the proven study secrets
of real straight-A students across the country and weaves them
into a simple, practical system that anyone can master. You will
learn how to:
Streamline and maximize your study time
Conquer procrastination
Absorb the material quickly and effectively
Know which reading assignments are critical—and which are
not
Target the paper topics that wow professors
Provide A+ answers on exams
Write stellar prose without the agony
A strategic blueprint for success that promises more free time,
more fun, and top-tier results, How to Become a Straight-A
Student is the only study guide written by students for
students—with the insider knowledge and real-world methods to
help you master the college system and rise to the top of the
class.
Decent, but Doesn't live up to the titleReviewed by Rau Duke, 2010-02-11
I bought this book because I had a schedule jam-packed with hard
classes and labs that ate up a lot of my time. I got through my
freshman and sophomore years in college fine without cutting into
my social life, but based on the reviews this seemed like the
perfect solution.
So what's good about this book? The time management skills are
great and will prove to be helpfull beyond your college career, but
many motivational books contain many of the same ideas. That's
fine, these are proven techniques that will surely help most
students. The studying techniques (ie. How, When, and Where to
study) are good, and not things you will read in your average "Get
Good Grades" book. The quotes from real students make the book
personal and relative to your average college student which is a
huge plus.
The problem is promise of becoming a straight A student by studying
less. The answer from the book is; study harder in less time. The
examples include writing papers for history and problem sets for
basic math. These skills just aren't applicable for pre-med,
engineering, or any kind of technical course in which doing well is
directly related to time spent on the material.
This book is made for freshman college students, and could help
even sophomores and junior students, but beyond your gen-eds, this
books will provide mediocre help at best.
And I know what you're thinking, "Dude, you're pre-med, you're and
idiot for thinking that a book could help you get better grades by
studying less."
Yes, I was. Please, take the other reviews with consideration.
Reading this book wasn't a waste of time, but it was a HUGE
dissapointment.
Some Suggestions for StudentsReviewed by Michael W. Perry, 2010-02-06
The large number five-star ratings this book has been given
well-deserved. It describes in an orderly, organized way what top
students have learned about making good grades without becoming a
joyless grind. Over many years as a writer, I've stumbled into most
of the techniques he discussed, but I wish oh-so-much that someone
had given me this book as I started college. High schools should
use it as a textbook in classes for college-bound seniors.
That said, I have two suggestions.
First, this book was written to be useful for a long time. Other
than a passing mention of Google, there's little here that wouldn't
have been applicable ten years ago or ten years from now. That's
good writing. Who wants to revise a book every few years? But in
the here-and-now, some time-specific advice is helpful. Here are
three that came to me as I read.
1. If you have an iPhone, an iPod touch, or a similar device with
you all the time, use it to capture thoughts. Get one of the note
applications, create a document for each assignment, and copy down
ideas as they come to you. Keep it beside your bed, so you can take
down ideas that come in the middle of the night. Don't trust your
memory.
2. Near the end, he suggests going a lonely place and reading your
paper aloud as a way to catch grammatical errors and poorly worded
sentences. There's an easier approach that will probably let you
catch more errors and is less tiring. Use the text-to-speech
function of your computer to have it read your paper to you.
Hearing will cause you to catch mistakes you won't see when
reading
3. Remember that Microsoft Word isn't the best writing tool out
there. There are applications specifically designed to make the
drafting, outlining and writing process much easier. On my Mac, I
use Scrivener and love it. There are similar applications for
Windows.
Second, is my frustration with what the book does not say. College
should be more than a game to get the credentials to make lots of
money. We should be doing more than jumping through hoops and
pleasing professors by repeating back their opinions. In the
beginning, Cal Newport suggests that the goal of his book should be
making good grades easily enough that you have time to party
and--yes he said it--get drunk. That's unfortunate. There's more to
life than partying and all your hard work in college with come to
nothing if you end up a drunk. Look for ways to make the time you
save more constructive. Study topics that interest you even though
they're not part of the course work. And last but not least, get
involved in activities other than partying.
In short, remember, there's more to college than making straight
A's.
--Michael W. Perry, Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary
for The Lord of the Rings
Good advice. Worth a read.Reviewed by The Pro, 2010-01-19
I found this book to have good advice and strategies for getting better grades. I've tried some of them, some I didn't continue to use, but I am sure it has helped my grade, worth a read! I've had people ask to borrow it.
Believe in yourselfReviewed by Remcy, 2010-01-08
I know that this may sound like i'm one of those people who say oh it really works or something like that but before buying this book I was in a real predicament. I took the advice of one of my friends and stupidly set up my college schedule so that i would be going to school for only two days taking four classes each day and what a bummer that turned out to be, my semester G.P.A was a 2.5 i felt like i just wanted to quit after doing something so reckless and i have myself to blame but i thought there must be a way to make my Fall 2009 semester better and while searching Barnes and Noble stumbled across this book. I religiously followed the techniques and to my surprise when my college released the grades for fall 2009 i stared in shock at my report card as I actually saw for the first time in my academic career straight A's now I feel like I'm a chosen one and i'm looking forward to applying the same methods for spring 2010 semester Kudo's to Cal Newport for this book. When I followed it as well as adding in my own techniques the results were amazing u don't have to be a grind after all:) by the time i'm a senior i should be well on my way to the grad school of my dreams THANKS Cal Newport.
The Best Study Book AvailableReviewed by Student 2010, 2009-12-27
Before I decided on this book I did a good bit of research
regarding study techniques over the internet and discovered
one-to-many get rich quick style study books that promised
straight-A's with little to no studying. Those that didn't fit this
stereotype were asking students to study almost all day every day.
Fortunately, Cal has proven that getting straight-A's isn't
synonymous with being an over worked, underpaid, social outcast.
There's no magic pill that will make you remember everything you
hear, see, and read, but Cal has devised system that works.
The book gives fantastically practical advice. The content is
gleaned from comments and interviews of real straight-A students at
universities like Dartmouth, Yale etc. These kids haven't just
worked hard for their grades, but more importantly, they've
invested their time intelligently. The book is written in a joking,
friendly, style. It will teach you practical, effective, proven
strategies to help you achieve your academic goals. Cal Newport
presents an simple time management strategy, a simple but effective
note taking technique, for both technical (math, science...) and
non-technical (english, history...) courses. He then covers how to
study, when you're done studying, how to tackle major research
papers and non-research papers etc. If you're still unsure if this
book is for you, I highly recommend you check out Cal's website -
calnewport.com/blog. The book essentially presents similar ideas in
a step-by-step organized format.
Personally, I absolutely loved the book. In the four weeks of first
semester that followed my completion of the book, I didn't get a
single grade below a 95 on a test or paper! The techniques are easy
to put to work and extremely effective. When I finished the book, I
discovered the blog, and haven't stopped reading it since. Cal has
more fantastic advice on life for students than anyone else I've
ever heard of. READ THIS BOOK. You won't regret it.
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