How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less (Paperback)

by Cal Newport (Author)
Key Phrases: topic skeleton, pseudo working, rote review, Study Basics, The Plan, Take Smart Notes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“This book delivers on its title 100 Percent. I wish I'd had a copy when I was in college—I would have had a better GPA and a better social life!”—Jason Ryan Dorsey, author of My Reality Check Bounced!

“A smart, concise, fun, and above all informative guide on how to ace college by being smarter about how to work . . . This book is a must-have for anyone who wants to do well at college and enjoy it too.” —M. Cecilia Gaposchkin, Assistant Dean of Faculty for PreMajor Advising, Dartmouth College --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review
“This book delivers on its title 100 Percent. I wish I'd had a copy when I was in college—I would have had a better GPA and a better social life!”—Jason Ryan Dorsey, author of My Reality Check Bounced!

“A smart, concise, fun, and above all informative guide on how to ace college by being smarter about how to work . . . This book is a must-have for anyone who wants to do well at college and enjoy it too.” —M. Cecilia Gaposchkin, Assistant Dean of Faculty for PreMajor Advising, Dartmouth College

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (December 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767922719
• ISBN-13: 978-0767922715
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,110 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saved my college career and social life, September 27, 2007

By	JT (Maine) - See all my reviews

I'm currently a student at Tufts University, and before reading this book I was a real "grinder" when it came to trying to get a good GPA. I really didn't have a stellar social life because, due to my previous study methods, I needed to study for hours on end in order to excel academically. I did well, but not insanely well, and it always felt like I was under a time crunch to finish my work.

But the most frustrating aspect of my early college career was the sacrifices I had to make to my social life to get an above-average GPA. Every time I tried to make time to go out and have fun, my grades suffered.

Enter Cal's book. After reading this book and applying his techniques, I was able to take the hardest course load I ever took (5 science/engineering courses), play rugby, and go out, on average, 3 times a week while pulling off a 3.8 GPA for the semester.

The techniques in this book will vastly improve your quality of life in college. His time management techniques are worth the price of admission alone. I HIGHLY recommend it, Two thumbs up.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ONLY real college success book that lives up to its title!, December 3, 2007

By	Johnny thunder - See all my reviews

For perhaps the first time in my life, I finally found a book that truly lives up to its title. Personally, I dont review many books, but I just had to let everyone know that this book is AMAZING!

Well...maybe i'm getting ahead of myself. You should also check out his other book too!

I've read a few other books on college. However, they were bloated with too many pages, a boring writing style that failed to capture my attention, and were generally repeating common sense that students have heard way too many times.

However, what sets this book apart is that, unlike 99% of college success books, the advice isn't biased. It doesn't involve one person's experience, but instead from fellow straight-a students. In fact, it isn't even written by a professor! The great part about this is that, although not every last tip will apply to everyone, it gives you a good pool to work with when formulating methods to get ahead in college. Personally, I found 95% of the stuff applicable to me.

That being said, I found this book to be helpful because it follows the simple phrase: "Study smarter, not harder". Even with this simple phrase in mind, everything branches out to include often surprising "secrets" that WILL improve your college experience. Although much of it is common sense, Cal describes it in such a manner so that you can easily understand it, why it is important, and become inspired right away! Cal also writes very well that I found it very hard just to put the book down! He writes in such a manner like he is an older sibling who is passing on his knowledge to his younger brother or sister. Its really funny and definitely a far cry from those monotonous "college success" guides.

Even then, this book more than delivers on its title. Although good grades in college are no doubt important, college is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that is full of new experiences waiting to be discovered. With this in mind, Cal proves to the reader that good grades are not the entire point of college. He defeats this common mindset by telling the reader to keep a good balance that were used by the straight-A students he interviewed. He used the phrase "star students" to describe them. These were people who actually HAD a life outside of the classroom: They had stellar grades, good friends, and were immersed in extracurricular activities. In essence, these students wanted to "stand out" right from the beginning. This piece of advice will definitely be hard to come by with other books. A's B's and C's are NOT the "currency" of academia.

An important thing to remember is that this book is more in depth than his previous book. Even so, i'd buy BOTH books!

If you are skeptical like I was at first, do two things:
1. Read the introduction.
2. Check out Cal's blog on college success. Its updated frequently: http://calnewport.com/blog/

Good luck and have fun!

***UPDATE***
December 22, 2008

3.7 GPA for my 1st semester of college. I had tons of free time on my hands! This book was the single best investment I made thus far in my college career!

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Become a Straight-A Student and Enjoy Life!!, January 7, 2007

By	Michael Simmons (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a reader of Cal's previous book, I immediately grabbed this book and have not been disappointed. Cal follows his practical, no-BS style and brings you the most effective and usable strategies for becoming a straight-A student.

In the end, what separates this book is that it dispels the myth that you either have to be a nerd or extremely smart to get straight-A's. Pulling from the experiences of people who've been there and done that, Cal provides a strategy that ANYONE can use.