Professor Jeremy Hyman offered some suggestions discussed in his
book “Professors’ Guide to Getting Good Grades in
College” to help better prepare freshmen for academic
expectations:
1. Collaborate with professors on assignments and don’t be
afraid to go to office hours. Hyman suggests being prepared with
some questions beforehand and allowing the professor to speak.
2. Take at least a page of notes for every 15 minutes of
lecture. Include illustrated points even if they seem secondary.
They give the main point body and momentum. It’s better to be
over prepared than under prepared.
3. Keep up the study momentum up throughout the quarter. Many
students hit an end-of-quarter wall, but this is often the time
that grades count the most.
4. Don’t disregard the first few weeks of class. Even
though many classes do not have assignments during this period, the
work done then sets the groundwork for the assignments later.
5. Take a break every day. For some, that may mean playing an
hour of video games. For others, a swim in the Sunset Recreation
Center pool is in order.
6. When taking a test, give equal time to all portions of a
test. Students will commonly spend too much time on earlier
questions, and by the time they come to the last questions, time is
up.
7. Specificity and clarity ““ not a student’s ideas
““ are often the biggest differences between an A paper and a
B paper. The better papers don’t just explore an area; they
make a point and they present that point in a well-structured
manner.
8. Choose a range of classes and those that spark interest.
Students need not drudge through tedious prerequisites to get into
majors quicker. Many students certain of their desired major in
freshman year end up changing it later.