How to Become a Straight-A Student
The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less
by Cal Newport · first published 2006
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4recommended by
8HN commenters
2007–2023first – last mentioned
50% recommend38% neutral13% critical
Offers time-management strategies, tips on taking tests, techniques for writing essays better and faster, and self-assessment tests to help students analyze their study skills.
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…to learn. Something about articulating arguments in complete sentences cements them in your mind like nothing else" from http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/08/02/the-straight-a-gospels... Also the book How to become a straight A student by Cal Newport is thin but packed with actionable information. Highly recommended.
on “Ask HN: How do you take notes (useful note-taking strategies)?” ↗…of school over other activities. School is a full-time job and spending 40 hours/week should be expected. A lot of the advice are also just common sense. I also strongly recommend Cal Newport's book "How to Become a Straight-A Student" (https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Straight-Student-Unconvent...). I've read a lot of books on studying in college, but I think this one really is one of the best way to study.
on “How to Study (2016)” ↗…4 25-minute sessions. Don't overdo it, study smart, not hard. I also do a bunch of online courses on anything I am currently interested in and do one hour a day studying these. I read the book called How To Become A Straight-A Student by Cal Newport and it has given me some rather useful insights on how to study. I dunno, I guess personality type plays a role in the amount of discipline you have. I also work and do freelance work…
on “Ask HN: How do you manage self-study?” ↗…anyways. The only problem with these techniques is that it's easy to fall way behind if you don't discipline yourself to consume lectures at about the same rate they're being delivered. Cal Newport's book How to Become a Straight-A Student has good tips like blocking out chunks of time during your week in advance to do study specific topics or do specific assignments.
on “Things I learned from teaching” ↗…trying to be critical of anyone; I tend to do the same thing. Quote: I hear variations of this same tired argument probably once or twice a month. (It comes with the territory when you write a book titled How to Become a Straight-A Student). He has you lumped in with the rest of his critics. "Obedience to authority" is a collective quote from the lot of you, with your words "index of obedience" as just one fuzzy part. What's funny is…
on “Dangerous Ideas: Sorry Paul Graham, I Think it Does Matter Where You Went to College” ↗There are lots of respected academics in computer science. Apparently he chose to spend his time writing 3 versions of the same book for money: How to Win at College (2005), How to Become a Straight-A Student (2006), and How to Be a High-School Superstar (2010). And he's by definition peddling. Not sure why you took offense to that and not sure where the "free" economy has any relevance to what I said. The…
on “Ten Productivity Books You Won't Regret Reading” ↗…came across a site called StudyHacks (http://calnewport.com/blog/) that had a lot of great articles that were enjoyable to read. I'm going to go to the library in the next week or so and get Cal's book "How to Become a Straight-A Student" (I'd do it now, but I'm reading The Pragmatic Programmer) and I hope that the book will make things more clear. In the coming year there are a few changes I want to make. The biggest once, contrary…
on “Ask HN: How did you get avg 95% in University?” ↗I'm actually reading through his "How To Become a Straight-A Student" right now. Nothing particularly profound, but the task tracking method is definitely helping me stay on-top of college work while having a full-time job at the same time.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗