revised 1

• Always go to class
• Importance of going to class

  It doesn't matter if your class meets at 6:00 at the top of the steepest hill on campus, on Saturday mornings—wake up, get dressed, and get to the lecture on time
• Lydia, a straight-A student from Dartmouth: 'if you skip class, "it'll take twice as long studying to make up for what you missed"'
• Why class attendance is important

  Not because learning is power, or ifs what your parents would want you to do, but because it saves you time
• If you attend class regularly, you will significantly cut down on the amount of studying required to score high grades
• Don't make going to class negotiable
• Even if you're tired, hung over. or extremely busy, find a way to make it there
• Just going to class isn't enough by itself
• Note-taking


  An art form that requires guidance
• Real straight-A students have proven note-taking strategies
• Gather the Right Materials

  1. Bring a laptop

  2. Bring a notebook

  3. Bring a comfortable pen
• Laptops are becoming the de facto standard for undergraduates across the country
• Laptops for note-taking


  Allows you to record more points in more detail, which makes it easier to study come test time
• If you don't have a laptop, make sure you have one notebook and a pen that you are comfortable with
• Typing summaries or notes at the end of class can be a helpful strategy
• Pencil and paper are acceptable for math, science, economics, and engineering courses that are heavy on numbers and equations
• Some students are comfortable approximating complicated mathematical problems on their laptop, while others are not
• The difference between the two mediums (laptop vs notebook) is less important
• A lot of "experts" recommend needlessly complicated additions to this basic material list
• Anna, a straight-A Dartmouth student: '"A lot of students focus on making their notebooks look pretty and then forget about the content."'
• "Nontechnical course" refers to any course outside of math, science, economics, and engineering
• We're talking about English, history, political science, anthropology, classics, education—courses that are not mathematical