After finishing my first 16 credit hours at a public four-year university, I was shocked when I looked at my grades and saw I had made A’s in all classes.  This was my first time ever making straight A’s in school as far as I could remember.  Even though I’ve always been an above average student, I’ve never been an excellent student, and I usually would make a combination of A’s and B’s.  It was definitely hard work, but it was well worth it to me.  The best benefit from it was just knowing I had the power and ability to accomplish it.  So how do you get there?

Define What You Want

What do you want this experience to be like?   What would be the ideal college scenario to you?  Do you want a full college experience?  Do you even want straight A’s?  Do you just want to get through college as fast as possible?

Basically those questions force you to be aware of what you want.  If you don’t see exactly where you want to go, how are you going to get there?

Pick Classes Early & Wisely

When you pick your classes early, you have more options.  Also, you’ll probably have a better attitude going in than someone who feels stuck with the left over professors.  Usually the really good teachers fill up very fast, so if you have questions about a professor, you could try to find someone who’s had that professor before and ask them or you could check out Ratemyprofessors.com.

Also make sure the classes are held at a reasonable time for you.  If you’re in high school and planning to go to college, try to become a person who wakes up early.  The advantages that come with being an early riser extend beyond college.  Don’t get stuck in the “I’m just not an early person” thinking.  If you think you’re a person who can’t wake up early, you’ll be a person that can’t wake up early.  You’ll be blocking yourself.  The bottom line is if you’re not a person that wakes up early now and have no intention to try to be a person that wakes up early, don’t take early classes.  This might go back to picking classes as early as possible because you don’t want to be stuck with early classes if you have no intention of waking up early.

Be Prepared

Before you even step foot in class, make sure you’re completely ready for that class.  Make sure you’ve got the books you need and you know where your classes are and how to get to them.   Make sure your housing and transportation to and from the school is satisfactory.  Be prepared for the first day.

Feel Good

This was the most important factor in my success.  Too bad it often goes unsaid.  It’s harder than it seems, because you have to make a conscious effort to feel good at times.  Have you ever noticed that when you feel good, things aren’t a force?  It’s more of a flow.  If you’re going to make straight A’s you can’t afford to not feel good. Exercise often.  Listen to inspirational music.  Pick friends that will lift you up.  Join clubs and organizations that interest you.  Do whatever you have to do to keep yourself in a positive state.  The excitement of a new life being away from my home city and sharing an apartment with my best friend was enough to carry me through the whole semester.

Having a diet that empowers you can have a tremendous impact on your success as well.  I’m now truly beginning to understand the effect our diet has on our emotions, energy level and mental clarity.  Back then my diet consisted of cereals, ramen noodles, sandwiches and pizza.  Looking back, I can see how that diet took its toll on me.  I would be energized in the morning, but completely drained when I got home after classes.

Attend Class

You might expect me to encourage everyone to go to every class all the time, but honestly I would say it’s a judgment call.  Sometimes listening to professor’s whole lectures are just a waste of your time.  If you value your time, you won’t let anyone cause you to waste it.  I’ll give you an example.

One professor I had graded solely on our performance on 3 tests.  Attendance, quizzes, participation, and homework all had no numerical impact on our grade.  The class offered Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions which were basically outside tutoring for that specific class.  The SI instructor was required to be a student that had made at least a B in the class before, and the SI sessions were held twice weekly for 30 minutes per session.  The class itself was held 3 times a week for 50 minutes a session.  During the SI sessions, the SI instructor’s lesson plan went over exclusively what was likely to be on the upcoming test and some effective strategies to use to study for it.   During the class itself, the professor of the class lectured about what was going to be on the test also.  The problem was that he mixed in a lot meaningless facts and biased opinions in the lectures.  I wanted an A in the class so in this situation it made sense for me to not attend his lectures and just attend the SI sessions.  This is exactly what I did and I ended up with an A in the class.

On the other hand, there were classes where I literally did not deserve A’s according to the numbers.  I’m almost positive that professors saw me attending classes and tutoring sessions and decided to boost the B’s I made to A’s.  No complaints here.

Be aware that in most classes you’re probably going to have to attend classes.  However, also be aware of the best use of your time.

Sit in the Front

Save yourself some trouble and make an effort to sit in the front.

- There won’t be as many distractions and side conversations towards the front of the class.

- If there’s audio problems with a professors mic, you’ll be able to hear him without a mic while people sitting in the back may have trouble.

- What happens when there’s an important worksheet a professor has to pass out and there aren’t enough copies for everyone?  The people sitting in the back may have to make some extra effort to get a copy while you get a copy handed to you.  Why? Because you sat in the front.

Use Resources

You’re paying for the resources that are available.  Why not take full advantage of everything you pay for?  Tutoring, counselors and advisors are all there waiting to be utilized by the students.

Your resources also include your professors.  Get to know them.  Let them know you’re there.  If you need a letter of recommendation, don’t be afraid to ask your professors for help, but understand they’ll probably want to know who you are first.

Don’t Procrastinate

This was absolutely crucial to my success.  I would study in between classes, when I got home, and even during some other boring classes.  Not procrastinating cut down the stress which definitely contributed to my overall positive state during that semester.  It’s definitely easier said than done though.  If it was easy, it wouldn’t be such a big problem in the world.

In high school I was always a procrastinator.  This is why it was so weird to me that somehow during this semster in college, I didn’t procrastinate anymore.  I would say the biggest factor in me not procrastinating was my  excitement and optimism.  I looked at the classes I would have to attend, the books I would have to study and the homework I would have to do all as activities that would help me reach my ultimate goal.

That semester really taught me a lot about myself, and I often go back to it in my mind to figure out why I did the things I did and what made that semester so successful.  So far, its just reinforced the importance of feeling good and focusing on what you want (aka the Law of Attraction).

Related Articles

1. How To Make Straight F’s in College
2. The Different Areas of Life Support Each Other
3. 30-Day Trial #2
4. Doing Your Best vs. Focusing On Less
5. Visualization – Day 20
6. Visualization Trial Results
7. Persistence