<p>
[QUOTE=hunter1985]
Here are my tips to success in college:
- Stop stressing over grades as much as you did in high school! Relax, realize that for the most part, your GPA in college stops mattering after a few years.
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<p>Your GPA in college determines the law schools you can get into. The law school you attend will determine your future job prospects and the caliber of connections you meet. Your GPA in college determines the rest of your life.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=hunter1985]
- Figure out your professors - Get an idea of what they expect, what you can shirk, who gives grades based on raw performance and who grades on effort, etc. If you know a prof doesn’t care about assigned reading…well then skip it and focus on a prof who’s going to quiz you on the latest chapter of your current textbook.
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This is elementary advice I’m sure most people know by now.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=hunter1985]
- Participate in social activities - doesn’t have to be school related, just get out and see the world!
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This advice doesn’t relate to the topic I addressed, and if it does you haven’t explained how.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=hunter1985]
- Party - Some of the best ideas and best friendships I have made have come on drunk & belligerent nights in some random apartment. Drunken conversations at 2am, meeting tons of new people, and of course the bonding experience that is the next-day hangover. Even if drinking isn’t your thing, parties are like the country clubs of college…it’s where the real work gets done.
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Again, I don’t see how this relates to the topic I addressed. From my experience, during parties people don’t typically chat about the academic work they do.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=hunter1985]
- Learn to Write - Yes, it does take some talent to pull a high GPA, and I owe everything I have to my ability to write well. If you can master this skill, term papers, essay exams, and the like will seem insignificant to you. The better you write, the easier classes become. I remember my sophomore year the students in a class I had freaking out over a term paper that had been assigned since the start of the year. People were prepping and whatnot weeks and months in advance. Yet, I took a couple hours the night before it was due and churned out an A paper…using the extra time I saved for more interesting pursuits.
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Again, elementary advice. We are in the Law School forum, and it is presumed that one seriously considering law school knows how to write well. Writing well alone, however, isn’t the key to a 3.9 GPA.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=hunter1985]
Bottom Line: you want a lackluster college experience, then by all means follow the quoted advice. However, if you actually want to enjoy college, then I would recommend taking a step back, de-stressing, and realize that the grades will come, but you are allowed to enjoy yourself in the process.
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Of course one is allowed to enjoy oneself in the process – I never mentioned the sacrifice of enjoyment as an action that one must take to yield a 3.9+ GPA.</p>
<p>“The grades will come” … Yes, the grades will come, obviously. Anything from an A to an F. You seem to be assuming that one can easily obtain good grades simply by de-stressing, working less, caring less. Empirical evidence shows this is not true for the majority of people.</p>
<p>“If you actually want to enjoy college,” then do things you enjoy doing. However, you seem to be narrowing down “enjoyment” to the stereotypical conception of what one derives as enjoyment from college. People may also derive some of their enjoyment from successful academic achievement, and there tends to be a trade-off between these two types of enjoyment (play and success at work), although some amount of both tends to be necessary for a healthy lifestyle for most people.</p>