Getting good grades has become such an important factor in our academic endeavours that we often become frustrated when we don’t get the grades we want. As someone who has gotten into one of the most competitive programs in Canada and got accepted into dental school, getting good grades was one of my most important duties and I can confidently say I have succeeded in doing so with various strategies.
I am here to give you practical tips on how to get good grades instantly.
1. GO TO CLASS
Yes, I sound exactly like your parents except they won’t explain why you should go to class (I mean, even if they do, you are probably in your room already). Let me try to persuade you a tiny bit here. I hated going to class myself because I concluded that my teachers might not be the best at teaching. But I faced several disadvantages, one is that some classes require you to show up for participation marks and not showing up will cost you these easy marks from the get-go (you’re lucky if it’s not one of those classes). Two, you might skip some classes thinking, ‘I can learn faster by reading the textbook on my own at home or something.’ Trust me, you probably won’t set aside the time to go through them because there are even more distractions at home or anywhere outside of class. Three, you end up spending more time trying to figure out some difficult concepts on your own (while studying for tests) when you could’ve listened in on your teacher clear them up in class. In the end, by not going to class, you are in fact setting yourself up for MORE studying time. Finally, you miss out on what your teacher wants you to focus on for upcoming tests and quizzes. You may simply get the info from your friends that went to class, but trust me, you get a better idea of what to study if you listen to your teacher throughout class. Again, this will set you up for more efficient studying, less overall studying time and more free time to up your quality of life. Be a good student, and you will get them grades.
2. GET YOUR HANDS ON SUMMARY NOTES & PREVIOUS TESTS
Think about your favourite sports. For you to perform well in a match, you need to run lots of practice matches and improve on your weaknesses. It’s the same for tests or quizzes. You must do many practice questions to perform well on the actual tests. It’s ideal if your teacher provides you with previous tests, but if that isn’t the case, try getting your hands on them through the upper years or search online as there may be some available resources.
Now, here is what I tell my students to do once they have their hands on previous tests, which might be a little different from what others do. I tell them to go through the practice tests (more the better) FIRST before they study the test material. This is because your brain remembers the practice questions, and when you come across the relevant material, you will be able to spend more time understanding and memorizing them. This obviously results in more efficient studying while allowing you to better retain the testable material, helping you get good grades.
Now, some of the online platforms that may have the previous tests, notes or quizzes you’re looking for are as follows:
a. Studocu – you can subscribe for 1 month free
b. Oneclass
c. Coursehero
d. Transtutors
3. YOU NEED TO PLAN
Would you ever go to war without any tactics or planning? Answer is most likely not. I know it’s a bit extreme to compare tests or quizzes to wars, but it’s just my way of emphasizing how important planning is when it comes to preparing for upcoming tests. The biggest advantage of planning is the peace of mind in knowing that you only need to finish a specific amount of studying each day (given that you have a well-made schedule). Trust me, planning will help reduce stress and help you study more effectively as you don’t have to constantly worry about whether you can go through the entire material for the test or not. Planning doesn’t have to be difficult. Let’s just say you have a science test coming up in a week. Figure out how many units, chapters, or pages you need to study and divide that by the number of days you deem sufficient to cover all of them. For instance, given that you have 5 chapters to study for and you predict 5 days will be sufficient, then you are left with having to do 1 chapter a day. During the extra two days, you may go over more practice tests if you haven’t already or simply take a nice break and do what you normally enjoy doing.
4. TEACH EACH OTHER
What are friends for in school? Well, obviously it’s to have fun and enjoy each other’s company. But, it should also be to help each other do well in school, especially as someone aspiring for academic success. Now, when you learn something new, there are two things that can happen. You can either learn the new material by recognition or you can learn it by heart. This is what I call, “know by recognition vs. know by heart.” The difference is that learning by recognition allows you to recognize the newly learned material elsewhere. But, you don’t know it to the depth that you can explain these concepts to others. In contrast, learning by heart is where you not only recognize the newly learned material elsewhere, but you know it well enough to actually explain the concepts to others. I highly recommend that you learn your test material by heart rather than by recognition. And the obvious way to test if you know by heart is to meet up with your friends and try explaining some concepts to each other. Certainly, knowing by heart will help you better retain the material for the test.
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