Tricks of the trade for a high GPA at CC

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Does anyone have advice for getting straight A's at CC? Maybe you can share lessons learned?</p>

<p>I think just visualizing myself at a university like Berkeley is good motivation.</p>

<p>I heard that condensing your notes into 5 to 10 bullet points right after each class, and frequently reviewing these bullet points is a really good method. This requires really good discipline and organization. Especially for science classes I would imagine. </p>

<p>Can anyone recommend some ways I can get into good habits early?</p>

2

<ul>
<li>Make friends! It helps a lot to hear about how professors are and such from their previous students (don’t forget to check out ratemyprofessor.com as well)
-Definitely take advantage of your CC’s tutoring services! I definitely needed it for calculus! :slight_smile:
-As soon as you get the syllabus/course schedule, make a plan as to how early you need to study for each exam. A lot of times, you’ll have exams very close to each other or on the same day. </li>
</ul>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>ratemyprofessor.com</p>

<p>deff helped me. I’m taking spanish 2 right now, I haven’t learned anything in the class and i have an A. I picked my professor thru that site bc everyone said she was easy and gave a bunch of extra credit, and she does haha. I wish I had known about it when I first started CC, it would have saved me from getting a D my first semester.</p>

4

<p>^^What he said.</p>

<p>1.) Ratemyprofessor
2.) Find easy professors
3.) Enroll in classes with easy professors
4.) Pass all class with A’s.
5.) ???
6.) Profit</p>

5

<p>Take notes; do your homework; study a little.</p>

6

<p>Sounds good guys, but it can’t be that easy. </p>

<p>Ratemyprofessor sounds too good to be true, what’s the catch?</p>

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<p>gettinthatfosho</p>

<p>myedu.com
you’re welcome <em>kobe voice</em></p>

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<p>@gettinthatfosho, actually, I’d say they are quite reliable. Just ignore those one line comments, but do read over the constructive reviews on each professors.
It also helps to know people who have been attending the college before you, that way you get more reliable input, per se.</p>

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<p>One thing that helped me immensely was to make efforts to be in good contact with my professors. Really, it’s one of the most useful things that I did in community college and at UCLA. When I took online classes at community college and made sure I went into my professor’s office hours to introduce myself. I did this once for an English class to get help with a paper. My professor had mentioned before that he never gives out 100’s on papers and up until that point I had done well, but after I saw him regarding one of my papers I received a 100 on it. I was also told that it was nice to see students who are passionate about their own education. </p>

<p>I also agree that ratemyprofessors.com is a great resource. I think a lot of people use it now more than ever, but I definitely don’t underestimate it!</p>

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<p>Always check rate my professor. You can find out what emphasis a certain professor puts on a subject, what their teaching/grading style is like, etc. My personal philosophy is that a good professor is worth any horrible time of day. I’ve taken 7:30 classes, 4-hour long Friday morning classes, night classes, you name it. A good class and a good professor will help you more than a nice, neat schedule. Balance it out, too. If you dislike math, make sure to take it with a few slightly easier classes, for example. I’ve seen many people take far too many units in difficult classes and do poorly only because of bad planning.</p>

<p>Make a plan right as you get the syllabus! I like to-do lists. Also, I’ve found that making a plan is especially useful during finals. I usually write all of my to-do’s under which day I will do them on my mirror in dry erase markers. Of course, a simple list on a paper would work just as well. You just need to find what works best for you. I would also recommend keeping a point check of how many points you need for an A and how many points you currently have.</p>

<p>For studying, I usually do flash cards or I make a study guide and write out any concepts I’m not sure about by hand a few times. For biology-based classes charts might work better. Textbooks often have charts and they also tend to have keynotes at the end. I’ve copied down charts from a textbook many times. This all depends on the class; some professors don’t rely on the book as much as the lecture. Talk to your professor during office hours. I’ve had professors change a grade on an assignment because I went and talked to them about what I was marked down for. It shows them you care about your grade. Do any extra credit if offered. Show your interest in their class. Do study groups. You’re ready for the exam if you can teach someone else the material. If powerpoints are online, read them and explain them to a friend (or your dog, whoever will listen :p). Don’t miss the “gimmie points”–if they give you homework or participation points, it’s a blessing. Do it.</p>

<p>Study hard for the midterm/exams in the class. Build up a cushion for the final. When one exam goes well, you feel more confident about the next. This goes for classes in general, too. Getting A’s my first quarter really motivated me to keep doing it. Finals will be overwhelming. You may have papers to do, projects, presentations–if you come to each final feeling like you can score a little lower and still keep your A, you will stress less.</p>

<p>Counsellors don’t know everything, unfortunately. Always ask a counselor at your UC(s) of choice if you aren’t sure, do your own research via assist.org, and see college reps when they come.</p>

<p>Also–not quite related to getting a high GPA, but get to know your professors! Those scholarships will come around and they will want to see those good letters of rec!</p>

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<p>no but really use myedu.com it shows the teachers and their average GPA’s. Some of the teachers I’m taking this semester give out 75% A’s…pretty much the easiest A you’ll ever get.</p>

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<p>^^^Shhhhhhhh, I’ve been using that site as a resource for awhile now. The last thing we need is it for it to catch on like wild fire like ratemyprofessor and having everyone using it thus making it overly-competitive to sign up for favorable professors, defeating the whole purpose of the site to begin with.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot bearterritory3 now the cat’s out of the bag! I was hoping I could use it as a resource throughout my undergrad career, but I’m sure by next year it’ll have gone the way of its inferior competitor. Now I guess I’ll have to work for my grades. :/</p>

<p>Ironically, one of my old professors actually told me about the site, it’s an amazing tool. Now I laugh when I hear people mention the subjective, erroneous reviews left mostly by lazy, disgruntled students on ratemyprofessor as it doesn’t compare to years of statistical data on real grade trends. If you want to find true easy profs, why take someone else’s word for it when there are histograms available showing you who dishes out the most A’s?</p>

<p>Oops I’ve already said too much, anyone who reads this disregard it! Nothing to see here, move along.</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot guys I’ll be sure to use both myedu and ratemyprofessor, and I will get my prof’s help whenever possible…</p>

<p>But does anyone have any good study methods, or tips…</p>

<p>I’m just stressing about math and science, stuff, you know… Cuz there’s a lot of details</p>

<p>And tutors, ratemyprof, asking for help, yada yada yada… All that can help out A TON, according to you guys, (thank you all BTW)</p>

<p>but, when it comes down to it… How can I be more disciplined/organized when it comes to studying, on my own?</p>

<p>@newsoul, yes that’s the advice i’m looking for</p>

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<p>Here’s my suggestions:</p>

<p>1) Get to know your professors by going to office hours, asking questions etc. You want them to know your name/face and not just be another student ID #. This also opens up possible TA positions which in my opinion are great opportunities to retain your knowledge and build up relationships with professors that will possibly become future LoRs.</p>

<p>2) Get into study groups. For some classes like chemistry, math, biology etc… study groups are really beneficial. Especially for lab practicums. </p>

<p>3) Use flashcards (helps a lot for ochem)</p>

<p>4) Don’t procrastinate. Things will happen in your college career like class cancellations, exams being postponed, due dates changed etc… If you keep up with your work and study daily then these things will never have a big impact on you as you will be prepared.</p>

<p>5) Learn to study from a textbook. Not all professors will be great and sometimes they could possibly confuse you even more. One of the best skills that I noticed most college kids don’t have is the ability to study from a text book.</p>

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<p>Studying is alot like playing sports. The only way you can get better at a sport is practice.
Samething applies to studying; practice everyday, do homework, and stay on task.</p>

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<p>If you’re a science major or like to study off flash cards like me, your android/iphone can be your best friend as a college student. I use an app called “studydroid” which is pretty raw and simplistic compared to some other one’s I’ve seen, but it still gets the job done. I can honestly say this method has been extremely significant to my improved academics. You can create your cards on your PC/Mac and sync them onto your phone, or vice versa, and this includes being able to add images and sounds for some apps (studydroid only supports images, which can also has a few bugs but w/e). However, the best thing about this is that in this modern age, just about everyone carries their cell phones at all times. This means that having such an app is essentially like literally carrying multiple decks of flash cards in your pocket and this gives you no excuse to not study whenever you have time. These apps help tremendously, especially for classes like anatomy (which I’m currently enrolled in) where more than half the class is simple memorization. Take a look at the android market or itunes and give one a try. The majority of them are free, including the one I use, and most have tablet support as well.</p>

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<p>I don’t want to brag but I really found out how to do well in college classes. These rules/things work good for me.</p>

<p>1) Copy notes to a computer after you take them (or take them on a computer)</p>

<p>2) This is part of #1. Make flashcards for classes. Most classes at CC are intro meaning a lot of definitions and stuff to memorize so cards can help soooooo much. It is pretty much the only way I study (excluding math/math based classes)</p>

<p>3) Talk to people in the class/have fun. You have to enjoy the classes to do well in them (at least I do).</p>

<p>4) Don’t force yourself to take classes you don’t want to. I know you have to do IGETC but don’t force yourself to take more advance classes in an area unless you really like it and do well in it. I made this mistake and as soon as I switched over to taking classes that I liked/thought were easy my grades shot up to all A’s (even in the classes I had to take but didn’t really like) A lot of people I know are f***ing themselves over by not accepting they aren’t good in an area. (If you suck at math/chem/even comm stop taking it and do something you find easier you will be a lot happier)</p>

<p>4) Rate my professor can be good but it also can SUCK. Watch out for reviews that say… “I like him/her but they are hard… They are a really good teacher but their tests are hard… Only if you are majoring in _______ take him cause he is hard”. All these say the same thing and that is THE PROFESSOR SUCKS! Trust me don’t take the “He’s hard but you’ll learn a lot” take the one that says “Easiest _____ professor” Like a counseling teacher once said to me you go to classes to 1st get an A then 2nd to learn (sorry if this makes you mad but it is the BEST ADVICE EVER. This is how you get into the better schools, You can’t put on your application “Got a C with a hard professor so that’s equal to the other applicants A” If you get a C it’s a C, if you get a A it’s an A, END OF STORY!)</p>

<p>5) DON’T BE AFRAID TO DROP! If you aren’t getting the grade you like (An A in an easy class or B in a harder one)… DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT!!! (I felt bad about dropping a first but trust me just do it if you feel you need to, especially if you are taking too many units.)</p>

<p>6) Lastly, (people are probably gonna get mad at me for this one) Enroll in more classes than you want. Go to the first class session for each one and based on what classes you need take the ones that seem like there gonna be easy.</p>

<p>DONE!</p>

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<p>@jasonSkim, That sounds really helpful, I’m definitely gonna look into that</p>

<p>@swagandtag Thanks a ton</p>

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<p>Also, another tip. Don’t listen to CC counselors.</p>

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<p>I am going to reiterate on a few points that others have said, but work for me.</p>

<p>1) GET TO KNOW YOUR PROFESSORS. They appreciate it so much when a student shows they have passion and/or curiosity for their subject. When you do transfer to a big University, like UC Berkeley you will not have the opprotunity to meet with your professors as much as you can in a CCC. So cherish it!</p>

<p>2) My recommendation for yourVERY FIRST SEMESTER at college is to take 2 or 3 classes. Start LIGHT. Use the first semester to understand your study patterns, or which class times you prefer. Take 2 general educational requirements that won’t be too challenging so you can get a “A”, but also can adjust to a college schedule.</p>

<p>3) Take summer school classes! I loved this option because it allowed me to take a lighter load during the fall and spring semester’s so it was easier to get “A’s” but also allowed me to transfer in a timely manner.</p>

<p>4) Go to all your classes. The transition form high school to college is very different in that their is no one enforcing you to be in class every day. Sometime’s it seems to easy to skip class in favor of the beach, but at CCC, lecture is very important. At least at my school.</p>

<p>5) This might sound silly but it was one of the hardest parts about me for college. SET BOUNDARIES. I had a hard time in the beginning saying no to my friends about going to parties…and believe me there is always a party or something going on around campus.
Don’t be afraid to say no.</p>

<p>And lastly, I think you’re going to be fine. You care enough about your education to inquire about how you can succeed in college before you’ve had graduation from high school! Good for you and good luck in all your future endeavors!</p>