4.0 students tell us how they do it.

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Talk about frustrating:</p>

<p>You studied for 10 hours to get a B on that Spanish test; “that kid” studied for 4 hours and got an A.</p>

<p>You stayed in on a Saturday night to get an A- on your essay; “that kid” partied all night and got an A.</p>

<p>“That kid” is working part time, dating a hot girl, and pledging Sig Ep all while maintaining his 4.0 GPA.</p>

<p>We all know “that kid:”</p>

<p>“I know a guy who is a typical "bro" type, e.g. drinks a lot, smokes, promiscuous, etc. and yet he’s a double major at MIT with a straight A GPA and does it without sacrificing time for socializing.” </p>

<p>“One of my roommates has very high grades in school (~95% average). He is the most fit, the most social, and the most often laid person I know.”</p>

<p>These kids actually exist, and you secretly hate them. </p>

<p>“These are the book-smart tools that sacrifice friends, family and a social life all for that sweet, sweet grade and end up dying at the age of 50 due to a stress-induced heart attack.” – Anonymous bitter person, referring to students with 4.0 GPAs.</p>

<p>Bitter person, here’s the kicker: these people actually have excellent social lives, much to your disbelief! </p>

<p>Why hate them? Let’s copy them, instead. Plus, it’s better karma.</p>

<p>We’ve asked/begged “these kids” for answers, and we are excited to share their feedback (stay tuned for future posts with more advice!). First:</p>

<p>Use RateMyProfessors.com.</p>

<p>By now, we have all been burned by a teacher’s grade:</p>

<p>“I had one B last year, the rest As, and this one teacher brought my 4.0 down to a 3.8. I worked twice as hard in his class than all my other classes - he just flat out graded differently from everyone else.”</p>

<p>“It's really frustrating when grading is unfair. I have a class where you must have the exact wording as on the answer key, and synonyms don't count. It's ridiculous.”</p>

<p>Teachers have the right to grade however they like; however, YOU have the right to know how they grade before you
choose their class.</p>

<p>To avoid unfair/ambiguous graders:</p>

<ol>
<li>Use <a href="http://www.ratemyprofessors.com"&gt;www.ratemyprofessors.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li>
</ol>

<p>Previous and current students have rated professors at your school, and have held NOTHING back. Please ignore the “hotness” ratings – really, people?</p>

<p>Here are some comments for one professor (chosen at random):
“He doesn't use slides at all, and what he writes on the board is illegible” AND “Pure Lecture, rare interaction” AND “I came to office hours and then got turned away” AND “he goes off on constant tangents and you can never guess what is going to be on the tests.” </p>

<ol>
<li> DUH - ask your friends (who have taken the class) how a particular professor grades. Beware of answers, including, “I had no idea! I could never figure out how she graded!”</li>
</ol>

<p>Disclaimer: We do NOT suggest you use this tool to avoid hard/challenging courses. However, you may want to avoid classes that (a) do not have clear guidelines and (b) do not suit your learning style (e.g., visual, auditory needs).</p>

<p>Comment below with your thoughts about this strategy. Also, please post below with the unique methods that helped you get those 4.0s/amazing grades!</p>

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<p>I have a 4.0, but I don’t think I really have any unique method for maintaining it. I don’t spend anywhere near as much time studying as I should. I study more than some, less than others. I work about 20 hours a week and still have plenty of downtime. I do make sure to clarify concepts in class. I rarely go to office hours. I do for my physics classes (I’m a physics major), but that’s often to discuss my honors projects or to discuss other outside interests in physics aside from the actual course material. </p>

3

<p>Getting through this current semester is struggle to balance a social life, grades, work, and sleep–the latter being the most neglected because I have both night and early morning classes.</p>

<p>As tired as I get, I include social/personal time in my schedule and am free to spend my work money on… food. So once I ace a really tiring set of midterms, I hang out, take time off, and reward myself. It’s really effective getting me through the tiring times.</p>

<p>Another key is simply to be strategic in studying and to loosely plan your week out. Take your time to finish the weekly goals and don’t over-study when you don’t need to. It also takes metacognition, which is a whole thing in itself.</p>

4

<p>Yeah I agree using ratemyprofessor… First quarter year, I just thought every professor had to grade the same way and give out similar tests like in high school. Though my professor penalizes us for every incorrect answer while none of the other professors do that. I was like “What the…” Then I went to check on ratemyprofessor, and saw a great amount of low ratings. I wished I had realized this sooner…</p>

<p>Also sometimes it depends on which teacher assistant you get as well. There are some teacher assistant who are like with the professor and would be like “Alright… we got to have some students pass and some students fail,” while other teacher assistant are, “I’ve been through this before… I don’t like failing students so I’ll try to help and go a bit easy for these freshman.”</p>

5

<p>I have a 4.0 in my major (Comp Sci). My school’s CS program consists of a large number of Chinese professors who, though they mean well, teach the easiest classes ever. My friend’s CS I midterm and a small variation to “Hello World”!</p>

<p>We do have some challenging classes from non-Chinese professors but because so many are easy, I just focus on those and do well because I have the time to.</p>

6

<p>I read reviews before taking the class, and then write reviews for all of my professors just to give the next students a heads up.
Like
“Hey, he says you need the book, but we never used it.”
“She requires a lot of group work”
etc. </p>

7

<p>From an engineering perspective, I never met any 4.0 students who were these jack-of-all-trades ‘superhuman’ types. Most of them definitely “looked” like 4.0 students - nerdy, and not in the best of shape (or health). Most of them communicated well, but their social involvement was so-so. </p>

<p>From my experiences, the jack-of-all-trades students usually had GPA’s ranging from 3.5-3.7. These were the ones who spent a reasonable time on homework, did well overall, had excellent communication skills, and had time to go hiking, skiing, partying, work part time jobs, and go out to the movies on friday nights with a group of friends. </p>

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<p>I just finished my last semester for my undergrad, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and will graduate as “Summa Cum Laude.”. Reading the post above, I definitely do not “look” like your typical …nerd? Most are in disbelief that I have a 4.0 as there is a certain physical appearance stigma that goes along with it. However, I studied my ass off and always maintained my goal in mind, while working two-part time jobs, and keeping my sanity in the social setting. I ended up quitting Facebook, it was a complete unnecessary distraction during the semester - especially when I was conducting research. Maintaining communication with your professors goes a long way. I never had any kind of a “heads-up” prior to enrolling in a course, or with a certain professor. Some were complete pompous nightmares, insisting you refer to them as Dr. so-and-so, even then you just have to smile and like it… for the time being. I set a very high goal and standard for myself, accepting nothing less than an A on every assignment. If the teacher asked for a 12 page final paper, I wrote a 21 page etc… If the class was challenging, I would start asking for extra-credit in order to provide a “cushion” should I need it. Often, I ended up with 100%+ in most courses. You just have to keep your mind on your goal, and enjoy your social life in moderation. </p>