Customer Reviews

How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country's Top Students

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wish I'd had this book in college. There seem to be a million breezy, humorous books about college life on the shelves, but they're all about cooking, cleaning, reducing stress and buying futons. This one is better than most at breezy humor, but it gets five stars because it's about COLLEGE: the core tasks of getting good grades, an employable resume, and the critical thinking skills necessary for a richer appreciation of life. My little brother is starting Harvard next year, and I've bought him a copy. Hard to believe the college-survival genre has been around so long and this book is just being published now.

Not for the average student, this book, the only one in its category, will teach you how to have brilliant success in college. While other college survival-type books are about healthy habits, emotional balance, how to do laundry etc., this one is for those who probably haven't needed such hovering help in awhile. In an excellent format (lots of little, very concrete tips, each of which gets a few pages of explanation), Cal Newport, himself a recent grad, lays out what separates the truly high achievers from the simply smart. The tips are not obvious or general, but precise and interesting ("Use High-Quality Notebooks", "Apply to Ten Scholarships a Year"), and well-researched (the author says he compiled them by speaking to many exceptional students, including Rhodes scholars, entrepreneurs, productive researchers and published writers, from all over the Ivy League.) The tone, unlike in many advice books by older adults, is never cute or patronizing. This is a very, very useful book if you're motivated and in for the long haul.

my little brother is going to st. andrews next fall. he asked me, a recent nyu graduate, if i had any sage advice on how to do well. i told him 'nope. i did it the hard way. all nighters & pestilence." but there's a better way. this alleged 23 year old 'cal newport' seems to have written precisely the book i should have had back in 2000 when i still had a shot at doing things right. i regret nothing but like i told my bro, read this book and take advantage of the tips you'll learn, cause you won't get them from your professors or your peers. a book for that rare kid willing to seek out advice on how to succeed in college. this book won't disappoint.

After throughly enjoying How to be a Straight A Student, I picked up another of Cal's books. While Straight A focuses more on specific study and notetaking methods, this book provides more general lifestyle tips for a 1st year uni student (ie. befriend your professor, never pull an all nighter, exercise and attend guest lectures). I like in this book how he emphasizes the importance of health, self worth, good relationships and intrinsic motivation as factors in doing well. However, some tips are pretty obvious (don't binge drink, always go to class, exercise, laugh everyday, find an escape) and others are just random (volunteer quietly, don't network, eat alone, make your bed, empty your inbox).

It's an okay book, there is some genuinely good advice like, ignore classmate's grades and take hard courses early on but there is a bit of fluff and while I have no doubt this stuff is from Yale, Dartmouth and other top notch students, it's vague and generic advice. Not much detail or anecdotes from students.

The author says in the beginning of the book that a student doesn't have to utilize all 75 tips in order to be a successful student. This is a simple fact that you need to grow accustomed to when reading this book. There is simply not enough time in a day, nor an individual motivated enough to develop every habit he suggests, varying from exercising 5 days a week to relaxing for a good half hour before you go to sleep.

I agree with essentially all of the tips he suggests. However, I think that outstanding students can indeed get away with studying in their dorms, eating with friends 2 or even 3 times a day, or getting a "normal" job just working in retail in town. While all of his tips are laid out clearly and justified in simple terms, college is a different experience for every person. Some tips will actually not apply to certain people. Some things he expressly forbids might be alright in certain situations.

That being said, I think this book holds a lot of wisdom. While it was a quick and easy read, and while it is like a compendium of tips that are intended to be read like a list, the reading did become predictable. He suggests writing every paper in college like you're writing for a Pulitzer--while he does write very skillfully, and while his personality does indeed shine in the writing, the reading just became somewhat monotonous after reading 10 or 15 tips at a time.

To fully enjoy this book, read it in small doses. Read 4 or 5 tips at a time and take time and ponder the things he suggests. For tips which come alive to you and really seem like they'd make you a better student, mark the page somehow. If you see a tip you don't agree with, make a different mark and go back a few weeks or months later and see if you still agree with your initial decision. Make an effort to live by the ones you agree with and see if they truly make a difference.

This book holds more wisdom than just "don't procrastinate" and "don't binge drink" and all of the common sense things that most books include. While he does mention them, he doesn't dwell on them quite as much (though he drive no procrastination home, no doubt). This book comes from a man who really knows college life--you can see it in the way he writes and the things he writes. My only complaint is that reading it in a single sitting isn't as fun as reading it in small doses. This book needs time to fully blossom, which some people don't have much of.

There are plenty of books about how to get IN to college, but this is the only one about how to stand out once you're there. This book easy to use (you can jump in at any of the "rules" and still follow along), the advice is extremely helpful, and it doesn't talk down to students. I especially liked the pointers on writing papers and studying for exams while avoiding all-nighters. "How to Win" should be a mandatory part of any college orientation.

Wow, I just graduated from college and this book is full of little tidbits that I wish I'd known 4 years ago. The best part is that it is written by an actual student to students and contains bits of advice you won't get reading an ordinary college "How To" book. And with dozens of two or three page chapters highlighting specific points, it's an enjoyable read that will get anyone thinking critically about how to succeed in college.

This book is AMAZING! Cal Newport gives wonderful rules to live by while in college. If you follow his advice (collected from stand-out students around the country) I don't see how you can be anything but successful. His rules are simple and easy to understand. For each one, he explains not only how to implement them, but exactly why they are so important. If you're like me, and you've always envied those students seem to run on all cylinders all the time, excel in all areas, and get more done in a day then you can accomplish in a whole semester, you need this book. If you've had trouble balancing intense academics and a full social life, you need this book. If you want to quickly, and easily, change the way you think about succeeding as a student, you need this book! It will change your life if you let it. I can't stop reading it over and over. It's an easy read, and it will not only inspire you to aim higher, it will tell you how to reach your new goals. After reading it, I feel like the sky is the limit for what I can achieve. Now I see college as the staging ground for all my future successes. This book is directed at normal students who want to do WAY more than survive college, they want to win at it!

As an admitted skeptic before I read this book, I felt like I had seen it all before. What could a 200 some page book offer me with 75 "secrets" of success in college? Even then, with at the most a 4 page explanation of why its important?

Call me crazy, but I think that this book was what I call a "Quick shot at success". Although its a quick read, in terms of other overloaded "expert" college success guides, I found this to really open my mind and give me the ambition to succeed.

What makes this book special is that it works two fold:
First, many of the secrets I had NEVER heard before! Yet, as soon as you read it, you just want to go tell all your friends what they've been missing while they were inevitably buried beneath a stack of books! Even with the rare "common sense" tips, Cal puts a new spin on them. He explains them so you can understand them, why they are important, and what you can do to become inspired to put them into action. Best of all, he does this with EVERY tip! This book REALLY makes your college life easier and more enjoyable!
Second, as I noted before, this book is a "quick shot at success". When you are done reading it, you WILL feel inspired. Even then, you will inevitably fall on some rough times in college. You may forget a few tips here and there. When you feel down, just pick up this book again and take another "shot" at success!

However, i'd recommend getting his latest book "How to become a straight a student" in addition to this. Combined, you WILL see results!

There are nowadays dozens of books written with the intent on preparing young people for the wonders of life in college or at the university. And although the purchase of any of these would provide an excellent source of advice to success at this level, Cal Newport's collection of 75 tips to excellence stand FAR apart! It is indeed true that many people will not be able to implement every tip into their experience; however, I challenge any college kid to tell me that advice such as "learning to listen" and "caring about your grades, not your GPA" are far too difficult to work into his or her busy schedule. In brief, if you are looking to merely help wear off the shock of transitioning from the environment of family and high school to one of the individual at college, then choose any college book you can find; it's sure to help. However, if you are looking at using these all-too-critical years at the next level to better yourself, then there's no argument: buying HOW TO WIN AT COLLEGE is essential!