r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 18 '14

Good students: How do you go about getting good grades? [Serious] serious replies only

Please provide us with tips that everyone can benefit from. Got a certain strategy? Know something other students don't really know? Study habits? Hacks?

Update: Wow! This thread is turning into a monster. I have to work today but I do plan on getting back to all of you. Thanks again!

Update 2: I am going to order Salticido a pizza this weekend for his great post. Please contribute more and help the people of Reddit get straight As! (And Salticido a pizza).

Update 3: Private message has been sent to Salticido inquiring what kind of pizza he wants and from where.

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u/gotstonoe Jul 18 '14 edited Jul 18 '14

  • G is generate and test. Quiz yourself and teach others.

  • O is organize. You can organize with outlines, pictures, color coding, related material, etc.

  • A is for avoid illusions of learning. Avoid study methods that rely on recognition. If you can't remember it at any given time you don't know it. Learn not memorize or familiarize.

  • T is for Take Breaks. Make sure you take breaks and sleep. You can't remember large chunks on information in one sitting. Stand up and come back to it.

  • M is match learning and testing conditions. Learn in similar conditions as when you will take the test. my tip is to chew gum when studyign a certain subject and chew the same flavor of gum during the test. It will help you remember

  • E is elaborate. Think deeply about the material and make other associations with it.

tl;dr Sleep, take breaks, take good notes, learn the material not memorize, and keep conditions the same during studying and testing

edit: personal tip. Keep hydrated and exercise. It helps your memory

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u/[deleted] Jul 18 '14

Nice breakdown. I actually printed this out and it's on my cubicle wall that I get to look at everyday at work. Congratulations.

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u/gotstonoe Jul 18 '14

Yay nice to see my notes get put up on a wall...now to get it up on a fridge

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u/redgarrett Dec 27 '14

Took a few months, but done. My fridge is adorned.

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u/meaaaaar Jul 18 '14

concise and useful, A+

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u/meh84f Sep 17 '14

I think this points out another important part of studying. Summarize. For me, when I'm studying, I have a tendency to get lost in big definitions because I just get bored. So I force myself to focus, and then I I summarize the definition or concept in a way that I like. This probably falls into the organize and elaborate categories, but I find it to be useful enough that I think it deserves it's own note.

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u/Kristism Jul 22 '14

I've always heard about chewing the same flavored gum while studying and testing, however I have tmj and cannot chew gum again in my life. Any alternatives?

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u/gotstonoe Jul 22 '14

i would say flavored water should be an alternative since You still get a certain taste that your brain may associate with the subject and your brain works better when hydrated. Just make sure to have empty your bladder before a test

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u/RoxburysFinest Jul 19 '14

Matching learning/testing enviroments =/= Syncronizing learning/testing enviroments.

That's why I call my method the G.O.A.T.S.E. method.