5 Ways to Make Better Grades in Higher Education - College Tutors and More

5 Ways to Make Better Grades in Higher Education - College Tutors and More

A Guest Post By Mark Etinger

Although grades aren't everything, they are the most accurate indicator of your progress in a course. Your grades reflect your level of comprehension for the material you've studied, and if they're low so is your level of understanding. This is extremely problematic in college, as it's a time when you should really be interested in your coursework and be doing all you can to understand it thoroughly. After all, the reason you're in school is so you can apply the material to your prospective career, so it's in your best interest to find the material personally and academically fulfilling.

Here are 5 tips to help you get better grades and find your college courses personally fulfilling.

1) Streamline your note taking. You should think of note taking not so much as detachedly writing down what your hear your professor saying, but actively listening to the lecture so you can easily pinpoint key topics that you can referenced in the future.

2) Bring a unique perspective toward assignments. It's always good to strive for a sense of originality in your work. To really set yourself apart from other students. To do this, you should stay away from recycling old arguments and popular ideas and strive to put a new, imaginative spin on every assignment you complete. As long as you can back up your claims and ideas with solid analysis, then you're sure to make excellent grades.

3) Find someone in every class that you can forge a "study alliance" with. Find someone you find interesting and introduce yourself. Ask about comparing notes/studying, and exchange phone numbers. As they say, sometimes two heads are better than one, so with a study ally you've doubled your intellectual resources for your next exam.

4) Contact college tutors if you need help. There's nothing worse than suffering silently while you fail a course, while college tutors are literally a phone call or few clicks away. College tutors will give your supplemental learning material that's personally tailored to your schedule and academic needs. The golden rule of academics is: if you put in the time, you'll start to see better marks on your exams and assignments. So if you need help putting in the time, college tutors are waiting to help.

5) When registering, choose courses that sincerely interest you. You should be really be excited about the courses you're enrolled in, and intrigued by the material. By taking a course that interests you, doing assignments and studying becomes easier as you are actually eager to learn more about the subject. It's unrealistic to say that every course you take is going to excite you, but you should have a good balance every semester of courses that you have to take, and courses that you actually like.

All in all, hard work, dedication, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge are some of the overarching characteristics that contribute to good grades. If you have those, but need a little extra help molding your study habits and absorbing the material, you should, talk to your professor and look into college tutors.

Newcastle Tutors offers college online tutoring services for university-level math and science courses. Our college tutors provide flexible scheduling and individual attention, ensuring the success of each and every student.

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The Adult College Student's Don't Do List

The Adult College Student's Don't Do List

A Guest Post By Linda Aragoni

Out-of-school adults are entering college in increasing numbers. If you are one of those students, knowing what not to do can make the difference between between flunking out and graduating.

Here are four tips to help you make the most of your college experience.

1. Don't expect college to be like high school.

Unlike high school teachers, college instructors won't break the work into daily assignments for you. They expect you to read the syllabus and plan your work to meet the class deadlines.

In many classes, your semester grade may depend on one or two assignments. College instructors rarely give a separate grade for homework and class participation, so your course grade will likely be based solely on test grades and papers.

2. Don't expect college to be like your workplace.

Your employer probably hired you because of your aptitude for your job, told you how the job must be done, and trained you to do it. At least for the first week, someone probably checked daily to see how you were getting along and whether you had questions.

In college, your instructors will assume you have skills such as time management, study skills, and academic writing. If you do not have those skills, may find yourself plunged into situations for which you have little or no preparation. You may be a whiz at bookkeeping, for example, but find yourself enrolled in English, history, and sociology.

3. Don't take on too much.

If you have been out of school a few years, you many find it best to ease into a college program by taking just a single course. For starters, take a course in which you have some expertise or interest. That will help learn your way around and gain confidence. Be careful, however, that your grade in the course will not depend heavily on skills you don't have. If your grade in an art course will depend on a term paper and you need remedial writing, don't take the art course until you have dealt with your writing skills deficit.

Then, when you are familiar with the college environment, take a single course in which you expect to have some difficulty. In this way, you will not only have time to adjust to college, but also get one tough class out of the way.

4. Don't hesitate to seek help.

If you see you are having difficulty with an academic subject, make an appointment to see your instructor right away. If you have problems that affect you in more than one class, such as a learning disorder, check the college catalog or ask your advisor to refer you to someone who can help.

If your problem is not academic, you may still be able to get help on campus. Most colleges can direct you to employment services, academic aid, health services, and counseling for personal problems.

With realistic expectations and a willingness to ask for help you'll be off to a good start on your college degree.

A former college writing instructor who taught adult students in online classes for five years, Linda Aragoni helps teachers do a better job teaching expository writing to students at her website, You-Can-Teach-Writing.com. She continues to support students embarking on college careers with essay help in an on-site forum. Copyright 2010, Linda G. Aragoni. You may reprint this article provided the whole text, the author's name, the links, and this copyright notice remain intact.

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