Dr. Lynn F. Jacobs - Professors Guide^TM to Getting Good Grades in College

This book is dedicated to you, the student.
May everything you touch turn into an

This is a book about getting good grades in college. You wont find anything here about getting along with your roommate, making friends and hooking up, balancing study time and party time, or how to do your own laundry. No, its all about grades. Asand how to get them. Youd be amazed how many times students come to us at the end of the semester saying, Id do anything for an A. By then, of course, its too late. The course is over. The die has been cast. But for you, As are available for the asking. Or at least the reading.

This book is written wholly by professors. The folks who give the grades, and who know what it takes to get good grades. Throughout the book well be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at all aspects of the grading process. Well show you how the college grading system is set up, what items count (and dont count) toward your grade. Well reveal what the professor is thinking as he or she constructs the course, gives the lectures, and assigns and grades your tests and papers. And well expose how professors size up students in discussion sections, office hours, and even from e-mail communications. Once you understand how the professor is thinking about all the activities that affect your grade, youll be able to do them better. This will put you on the fast track for getting excellent grades in your courses.

You might have thought this information was available elsewherefor example, from the professor or TA teaching your course. Think again. Professors today are much shorter on time than they were even five years ago, as a result of booming enrollments (often without additional instructional staff ). At UCLA, for example, the super-obscure Medieval Philosophy course used to have 30 students; now there are 200 (plus a wait-list of 50). Also, professors are often very reluctant to talk about how grades are given and what you can do to get good grades. Some think that its unbecoming for professors to talk about grades, or that students are already too obsessed with grades (so why rev them up more?). Others just find it too unpleasant to talk about grades and want instead to stick to discussion of the Javanese gamelan, Pavlovian conditioning, protease inhibitors, or whatever the course is about.

Thats why this book will be an enormous help to you in your quest for that most important of college prizesthe golden A. The Professors Guide is brimming over with high-value, authoritative tips, techniques, strategies, and methods. Instead of just telling you to sit in the front of the lecture hall and pay attention, well show you how to use the verbal and behavioral cues of the professor to construct an excellent set of lecture notes. Instead of just telling you to study hard for tests, well show you how to anticipate questions, triage your time, and make full use of the course resources. Instead of just telling you to go see the professor (or TA) when youre having trouble, well tell you what to say (and what not to say) when youre there, so that you can get all the help you need to reel in that truly excellent grade.

All the tips in this book are practical and easy to use. In each case well tell you exactly what to do, and how to do it. And the tips are time-savers, too. Nowhere do we direct you to work harder, or to try harder, or to do all the course activities for their own sake. You might find yourself working harder, or trying harder, or even (gasp!) going to all the classes. But itll be because once you understand how the various activities fit into your getting good grades, youll be more motivated to do them. And youll enjoy them more, to boot.

Trust us, the tips in the Professors Guide really do work. Between the two of us, we have taught over 10,000 students (thats right, ten thousand) at a total of eight different universitiesLynn at the University of Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Cal State Northridge, University of Redlands, and NYU; Jeremy at Arkansas, MIT, UCLA, and Princeton. Weve seen thousands of students move from Bs to Asand hundreds from Cs to As. We know how they did it, and well show you how you can do it, too!

But theres another reason the tips, techniques, strategies, and methods of this book will work. Its because once you understand the mechanisms of gradingwhat counts (and what doesnt) for the grade, how professors make up and grade tests and papers, and how professors are willing to help you get good gradesyoull be able to do the things that produce good grades. Youll do the right things, youll do them right, and youll get good grades. Its that simple.

This book is arranged around the five grade-bearing moments of the academic semester. Much like the load- or weight-bearing walls of a house, these are the times and activities of the semester that bear the full weight of your grade in the course. And which, if done correctly, will result in an A for you at the end of the course.

If you choose to read the book from cover to cover, youll find the grade-bearing moments arranged in the order of the typical academic semester (or quarter, if your school has those). Youll begin with (1) The Start (in which youll dispel common myths, learn how professors grade, and pick courses with an eye to grades); youll move on to (2) The Class (in which youll learn how to drop and add courses, how to take excellent lecture notes, and how to structure a typical week); youll proceed through (3) The Exam (in which youll learn how to best prepare for, take, and go over your test); youll tackle (4) The Paper (in which youll learn how to understand the assignment, how to think out and write both analytical and research papers, and, most important, how to enlist the help of the professor); and finally youll arrive at(5) The Last Month of the semester (where youll learn to surmount the hazards of this major grade-bearing moment, and how to prepare for, and take, that all-important final exam).

But maybe youre more pressed for time, or youre picking up this book well into the semester. No problem. Each of the 15 chapters stands on its own and will work without any of the others. So if you find yourself with lecture notes that could fit on a postcard (and still leave room for the address), have a look at our tips in Chapter 5 for taking excellent notes. If youre quaking in your boots about the upcoming Organic Chemistry exam, take a peek at Chapter 8 on how to ace exams by adjusting your attitudes. Never done a research paper and think the Internet is just for social networking? Page through Chapter 11 and get fully up-to-date tips about electronic databases and e-journals. Its the last month of the semester and youre getting a grade thats less than you hoped for? Check out Chapter 14 and take advantage of our techniques for moving from a B to an A (or a C to a B).