One of the hardest things to do in engineering is getting an
A. Sure, it could easier because you
enjoy learning about it. And some would
argue that getting A’s in engineering is overrated (there are some reasons for
this, but many of them don’t make sense).
However, there are just those classes that you don’t get. So below are
Serena’s Ways to Getting A’s, based on her own strategy. Someone told me I should write a book about my strategy; I guess this is close enough. Disclaimer:
I’m not promising this to anyone. But
your grades will rise if you are disciplined enough.
Work a 40 hour week. I adopted this when I actually had 20 units, aka 20 hours of school per
week. Say, on average, you have school
(class and office hours) for 4 hours per day, you would only need to study
about 4 hours per day. To be honest, this isn’t a lot of time. If you do this, you’ll find out how much time you waste now.
Write down your study
hours. Be honest with yourself! If you actually didn’t study, don’t write
down those hours. At the end of the
week, you will either say, “Wow, I should/could have done more!”
Devote study time for
studying. I know this sounds
stupid. However, anytime you look around
the library, I guarantee that about ¼ of the people are on facebook. Just study now, and get it over with!
Set a time goal. Instead of saying, “I’ll get my
paper/homework/project done today,” say, “In two hours, I will have XYZ done.” Treat
it is as real deadline. Although you probably won’t get it all done,
you still devoted those two hours to work, instead of meddling around on
facebook.
Create a large To-Do
list. This only works for people
that really like to see everything they have to do. I love seeing how many things I can cross off
my list. I leave school at 5 and say, “Wow,
I did a lot today.”
Separate school from
home. Many people study at
home. I understand this. But psychology says that we can separate the
mindsets. Do all of your work in the
library/lab/classroom/office. Then go
home at the end of the day, and leave your school-mind at school. This really helped me with my school-anxiety,
and I probably will never study at home again (unless I absolutely have to pull an all-nighter).
Do all of your
homework…by the time it’s “due.” I
know that a lot of classes don’t have homework that’s “due.” However, make your “due date” the day/time of
the professor’s/TA’s office hours. This
keeps you accountable with the weekly stuff, and you’ll only have to review it
when it comes time for the midterm.
Go to office hours. Don’t just go to office hours; be prepared for
office hours! Ask lots of questions-
annoying questions. (Well don’t actually
be annoying, but if you don’t “get it,” say so!!!) Have
your questions ready! Understand every
component of the problem/solution before you ask your question. Then if the TA says, “well I would do ____,”
you can counter it with, “I already did that.”
If you don’t
understand something, find the question in the book and complete similar
questions. Another thing people don’t
do. This is why you paid $150 for that
textbook! You didn’t spend the money to
do 10 problems. Instead of just giving
up, ask your TA/professor about those similar questions; it may just ring a bell on that previous question.
Make office-hour
friends. Usually the people at
office hours (like the ones that go religiously, like you should be doing) are working just as hard, if not harder, than
YOU. I have a couple of these friends (they are rare). But once, an office-hour friend and I
figured out the solution to a problem with the TA there. The TA literally had no clue. It was a great moment.
Make friends with
your professor. Now this is helpful
for people of any caliber. I don’t mean
for you to smooze with your professor. I
strongly dislike these people. However, think about it from a professor’s
perspective. If she’s never seen you
before, she probably won’t feel bad when she gives you a D or F…or even that
B+. If you show your face and look
excited about the subject, the professor is going to relate to you. They may say, “Well, she probably had a bad
testing day.” INSTANT GRADE BOOST! I’m not
saying all professors are like this, but they are less likely to be cruel if they
at least recognize you.
I hope this
helps. If you would like me to
elaborate or if you have critiques, let me know.:-)
