I went from a 2.0 GPA in high school to a 4.0 in college, and I credit a large part of that to a few habits I developed:
- Show up to each and every class, sit in the front row (they don't charge extra for these prime seats!) and write down everything that goes on the board. Ask good questions when you have the opportunity.
- Take advantage of office hours (another perk that doesn't cost extra)
- Do every scrap of extra credit that's offered
The last two items help, partly because there's a lot of subjectiveness in grading so impressions matter, but I think the biggest thing was the writing. I would fill a D-ring binder with a couple hundred pages each semester, and a lot of it stuck with me.
- Show up to each and every class, sit in the front row (they don't charge extra for these prime seats!) and write down everything that goes on the board. Ask good questions when you have the opportunity.
- Take advantage of office hours (another perk that doesn't cost extra)
- Do every scrap of extra credit that's offered
The last two items help, partly because there's a lot of subjectiveness in grading so impressions matter, but I think the biggest thing was the writing. I would fill a D-ring binder with a couple hundred pages each semester, and a lot of it stuck with me.