Getting Good Grades and Succeeding in School: The 4 Strategies That Will Set You Apart

Yesterday I was sitting in my International Business class and I had a thought. What strategies used by the students in this class set apart the succeeding from the failing. I know many students that fail one class per quarter, a terrible rate. This is most likely just a lack of studying and lack of using these methods. Here we go:

1) MAKE NOTES 

I put this one in caps because it is possibly the most important. Without notes, there is no basis for good studying. Notes are the core of study strategies and information retention. Some people prefer to take notes in class on lecture and some people like to take notes during reading of the course book. I prefer to pay attention in class more and engage in conversation so that I can pick up on the more dynamic elements of the lesson and then later go through the book and create my notes.

2) Review, Review, and Review Again

Studies show that students that follow this method best retain the information in the notes and are able to recall in in better depth later on. First, review the information and create your notes as early as you can. At least 1-2 weeks before you will need to recall the info in class. Then every 2-3 days, read over the notes and try to focus on the main points. Do this until the day before your test/quiz. The day before you must analyze the notes strictly and focus on the little details. By the time this comes around you will already have an outline for the notes engraved in your head and filling in the little details will be quite simple.

This graph demonstrates the forgetting curve over a long

period of time. Imagine the result that you can achieve

from revisiting multiple times per week!

3) Communicating With the Instructor 
Most students barely interact with their teacher/professors. This is a poor habit to create and won't help you out one bit. Imagine the brightest, most successful student in your class. Do they talk to the instructor, ask them questions, ect...? Most likely yes. This will be a huge benefit to your grade. When you completely understand an assignment, it can make the biggest difference in your overall work. Also, most instructors enjoy interaction with the students, talk to them and they will appreciate it. After all, your grade is in their hands.

4) Turn In Your Assignments
I know this sounds simple enough and it is pretty much a given, but a lot of student don't do this! With all the business of life and tasks to focus on, sometimes assignments and classwork gets pushed onto the back burner. You should always try to avoid this 1) because teachers take into count who turns work in and who doesn't and they view that as your interest/effort in the class. 2) because classwork will help reinforce the knowledge into your head even more for when it comes to finals time, and this can make up the majority of your grade, depending on the class.

Follow these 4 steps and you're on your way to passing all your classes with flying colors. If you have any study suggestions that work for you go ahead and share them down in the comments for everyone to see. And give this a share on social media for the friends that need a little (or a lot) of help with their study habits.