How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport

How to Become a Straight-A Student Reviews

• 
  Controlli

  
  What you won't find in it:
  1. praise of mind mapping
  2. doing ALL the readings + assignments
  
  What surprised me:
  1. time management technique
  2. note taking in the Q/E/C method
  3. Quiz-and-Recall + flash-cards
  4. how to write a paper without wasting precious time
  
  I would've liked more insight on:
  1. how to take notes from readings
  2. reading techniques
  
  I liked that he understands how TIME escapes the average student.
• 
  Kris Hintz

  I bought this book for my son as a high school graduation gift, expecting it to be abandoned, unread, like so many "parents advice" books given to teenagers. But over the summer he poured through it, and told me it was actually "really good."
  
  My son is now a junior at challenging university, and I am certainly proud of his success. He has not only been able to earn impressive grades, but he has had a BALANCED social life; become an officer in a fraternity; and participated in club sports. "This book really helped me do all that," he told me at one point.
  
  As a college consultant, I recommend this book to my students when they go off to college. The proof is in the pudding.
• 
  Amora

  I'll admit I skimmed through this one. That being said, the reason I did is because the material presented here is the exact same (almost word-for-word) as his previous book on college. I would read recommend reading Newport's previous book instead since that one feels more like the author is connecting with the reading. I did appreciate the interviews Newport conducted for this book but his last book gave the exact same information.
• 
  Sleepless Dreamer

  If we look at my grades from this semester (all two of them), I'm a straight A student so that makes me qualified to criticize this book, right?
  
  How to Become a Straight A Student attempts to provide study advice that has been recommended by other students. Since my last semester was not great, I had hoped reading this book would help me figure out more and better ways to study as well as open my mind to new techniques.
  
  As a whole, this book seemed to think a little too highly of itself. I mean, I understand the importance of marketing but as I see it, I already have this book so there's no need to market it to me. Instead of wasting page on convincing me why this book is going to be life changing, how about actually changing my life? 
  
  In many ways, this was frustrating. From the introduction and all the way to the end, the author kept trying to convince me straight A students all have this secret way of studying that only he has revealed and is now going to transform my life entirely because no one has ever considered recommended these pieces of advice. Needless to say, this is quite an overstatement. 
  
  Don't get me wrong, the advice here is good. That said, it occurred to me that this book presents a lose-lose situation. If you already do most of the techniques here, there's no reason to read it. If you don't, there's probably a reason why you don't and it's not because you've never considered doing it in any other way. 
  
  Sure, this book is great for people who have never studied before. If this is your first time in an academically rigorous place, this book will probably be very helpful. However, if you've already experienced intense studying, you probably already know the ways that work and don't work for you so this book might provide some new ideas but as a whole, I don't see myself suddenly giving up the things that work for me, even if they were not written here. 
  
  Beyond that, after the catastrophes of last semester, I found myself sitting down and questioning what went wrong. I've since changed my study habits based on my conclusions from that. We're going to have to wait a few months to see the impact of this but even right now, 6 weeks into the semester, I feel a huge improvement. In some cases, I did the exact opposite of what this book recommends because that's what I need, personally (like, I obviously needed to spend more time going over lectures or stop skimming over the reading 10 minutes before class). 
  
  I think the biggest benefit for me here was understanding that there's room to think critically about the techniques I use when studying. For example, up until now, I've never considered how I write essays. It's always been a "brainstorming until an idea comes, writing tons of words until something makes sense, editing until it's clear to everyone" type of thing. It's never occurred to me that perhaps there's a different way to do it. That said, of all things, I've been getting good feedback on my essays which makes me wonder if since it works, there's no reason to change it.
   
  As I see it, studying is a deeply personal activity. There is room to be skeptical of a book that tries to create a "one size fits all" studying formula. I can say about myself that if I attempt to study in between things, I end up doing a haphazard job. I know this because last semester I did most of my class readings like that and sure, I was always on top of the reading but also, I had no idea what I was reading. 
  
  I think a book about studying should attempt to give you advice on how to find the right studying style for you instead of recommend one style. I often find myself dealing with studying dilemmas. How to increase focus abilities during long lectures? In the days before a big exam, should I focus only on the exam and ignore the rest of my studies (which will lead to falling behind) or should I juggle all of that? If I feel out of focus, is it better to stop studying or to power through even though I'm not sure of the impact of the studying? I had hoped this book would give me advice for these moments, instead of general advice.
  
  This book kept trying to claim these students all lead very exciting and active lives. It was trying to make it a selling point that they all study less than everyone but get better grades. Perhaps I'm a minority here (I've studied so much Statistics this week that my brain immediately pictured a bell curve) but this seems to be an overly rosy picture. As a serial multitasker, let me just say that people don't always see the toll it takes. It would have been better to show a balanced picture where yes, you do need to give some things up in order to get good grades.
  
  This book recommends note taking based on the Question, Evidence and Conclusion technique. It essentially says that for every word based subject, from philosophy to anthropology, this can work. As a Politics and Philosophy student, that didn't strike me as helpful. I find it more helpful to use lots of titles (Criticism, Methodology, Biography, etc) as a lot of my courses end up being a mish-mash of ideas, rather than a class with one or several main ideas. Sometimes my classes are things like, "let's talk about the main EU establishments". What would be the conclusion or evidence of this?
  
  That said, this book was valuable in the sense that it made me realize that notetaking during discussions can be helpful for future papers. I usually rarely take notes during discussions, unless someone has said something remarkable. I can definitely see the benefits of taking more notes in discussions and will add that into my note taking. 
  
  To conclude, I think Newport and I do not see eye to eye about the act of studying. I'm here at uni because I want to learn and improve the way I think. I think there's a lot of value in doing all of the reading because my goal isn't to get good grades, it's to gain knowledge in the fields that interest me.
  
  What I'm Taking With Me
  - Gosh, I hope the studying vibes that I'm feeling now will continue for the rest of the year,
  - It's wild to think all I needed was an international pandemic in order to get me to study properly.
  - Time management is my superpower and the advice recommended here wasn't nearly as good as the way I manage my time.
  
  
• 
  Zoë

  Is it possible to be in love with a book? In preparation for my return to school, I decided I could earn a lot better grades and study more efficiently. This book had been recommended on a blog I frequent, and I was not disappointed. All the study tips I knew were wrong! This book opened my eyes to the more efficient way of studying and having control of your education and grades. I want to give this book to every high school and college student, as they can be applied in both environments. Great advice on time management, how to study (REALLY study) effectively to know the material and get that coveted 4.0. I have pages and pages of notes from this book I will be applying when I start taking classes.
  
  Update: Finished my first term using these techniques and earned straight As!
  
  Update 2: Finished two more terms using these techniques and have continued to earn all As (and one B in a rigorous and demanding science course, if I'm honest)
• 
  Javier Lorenzana

  Actually helped my GPA wtf
  
  Update: The tips that were given actually helped me get straight As :O
• 
  Chadi Raheb

  
  خودم همه شو بلدم بودم
  [چشمهایش را در حدقه می‌چرخاند]
  هیچ میانبری وجود نداره
  تنبلی رو بذار کنار و عوامل حواسپرتی رو از اطرافت دور کن و سرتو بنداز پایین درستو بخون و درست نوت بردار و مرور زیاد رو هم فراموش نکن.
  تمام
  وقت ما رو هم الکی نگیر :))
• 
  mkh

  Author makes some valid points on time management, test-taking,and essay writing. He uses analogies and examples offered by other straight-A students.
  
  The aspect I felt this book lack in, was just some specifics directed towards technical vs. non-technical courses. Don't get me wrong, this book is not a general overview of regular habits straight-A students have adapted; it does have a specifics in that matter. But when it comes to, perhaps how to study for calculus vs. french, it's a little bogged down.
  
  I guess it should be used for the average, struggling college student? But other than that, if you already are a straight-A student, but have some difficulties in some areas of school, then you're better off finding out through trial and error.
  
  One reason this book wasn't the "earthshattering god-send" for me, was because my problem with studying wasn't so much the strategies. In fact, I found that I was already inherently doing some of the tactics that Cal outlined, without even knowing that they were common strategies employed by straight-A students. My problem was more so towards the attitude. I had a defeatist academic attitude although I usually do well, and I wanted to overcome that.
• 
  hanna

  nice re-read before a new semester :)))
• 
  Katie ♡

  Actual rating: 3.7/5
  
  The book includes some useful and relevant tips for university students, especially those studying in non-technical areas (including moi) such as liberal arts, cultural sciences or social sciences, and so on.
  
  Although I have already been aware of a few tips suggested in the book after a few years of university (thankfully!), reading the book at an earlier stage would certainly reduce the amount of time for me to figure out these steps.
  
  Another bonus point is that the book covers a lot of real-life examples and innovative ideas from straight-A students in different universities, which make it easier for anyone to visualise the practice contexts and therefore apply them to his or her own studies.
  
  Overall, a highly recommended read if you are looking for smart studying ideas. I will also be looking out for more books from Cal Newport to read (or listen to).
• 
  Bragadeesh

  It may be a bit strange to think why I would pick a book like this and read it after so many years of academia. The following were some of the reasons I could come up with,
  
  Although I was not a straight-A student at college (a decade earlier), I did score a lot of As (more than 80%). Getting to them was not an easy task, I had to follow a series of shortcuts and techniques. I wanted to check whether some of the techniques appeared in the book or not. The answer was both Yes and No.
  I am a fan of Cal Newport's work especially his books "Deep Work" and "So good they can't ignore you". So I wanted to finish off his other books. This one apparently he had written around the time I had graduated.
  I am already in the process of mentoring a lot of young blood towards altering the way they approach education as I personally feel the education system is royally broke. Newport should definitely have thrown light on that. And I could use some of the points in my mentoring sessions for primary and college students. They are enhanced multi folds after I've read this.
  Education should not be stressful. Instead, it should be fun and adventurous. The starting few pages of the book hooked me up in this direction.
  I wanted to use some of these techniques in my own work environment as my field (or any field for that matter) requires a good amount of constant learning. Newport's cheat sheets at the end of each chapter are a phenomenal source to fuel one's efficiency!
  
  
  The core concept of this book is the strategy of "divide and rule". No matter the size of the problem you are trying to solve, the assignment you are trying to submit, the book you are trying to complete - this strategy works out perfectly. Especially in the arena of Academics and in Professional projects as well, the strategies laid out in this book could be applied to rip open any problem. Every student aspiring to get to Straight-A with least effort and maximum efficiency should read this.
• 
  Hà Nguyệt Linh

  Not sure this book is considered as the last book or the first book of the year or the taking-me-2-year-to-read book :( anw it’s really worth every penny and minute to read @.@ I’m surprised myself for these compliments to a self help book that really helps honestly...
  
  Your bookshelf speaks for you. So yes, I wanted to figure out how an excellent student looks like and right way realized how absolutely stupid I was in the university after my graduation 2 years ago... Of course some advice, especially about critical review essay or research paper, in the book cannot be applied in Vietnamese colleges that were so damn frustrating in my personal experiences. However there are still some practical methods explained step by step, which will definitely level up not only your academic results but also your “balance and healthy” life.
  
  Some essential points for lazy ones to take away:
  
  1. Part 1 - Basic rules in studying
  
  * Work hard to play harder
  => To have a notebook and calenda to schedule your life. Stop messing it up, dude.
  
  => To concentrate to complete tasks before your dinner. Then you have a whole night to chill out
  
  => Wisely take note and read (refer to the book for more details)
  
  => To split a hard task (like an essay/paper) into little chunks then you won’t become a last-minute all-nighter who normally is loser =.=
  
  => To understand your own energy, productive hours and your roommates’ noisy rituals to schedule tasks at the most effective level.
  
  2. Part 2:
  
  Sorry. I’m too lazy :( You can read and take note on your own for the rest parts. Plus, the advice in exams and essays I don’t apply yet so I cannot tell it really works or not...
  
  Guess what. I tried steps in Part 1 and it turns out that now I have 2 reading hours per day since I manage to finish all main tasks before 6pm. Suddenly I have whole free evenings and still remain energy to write review @.@
  
  Why didn’t I do this before? God know that I am a freaking procrastinating idiot... (the book also suggests some methods to kick your procrastination far away out of the solar system).
• 
  Zhraa زهراء

  So I read half of the book last year and get a lonely single A out of 10 courses, my shame :[ but the thing is, I haven't applied the advices of Cal. So I listened to the whole book this time before school in hope to have better results.
  
  Cal Newport once was a straight A student himself. It is kink of him to share his knowledge with poor students, who did day-before-appointment-studying and stay up all night.
  It doesn't have to be like this. There is more efficient study routine.
  Smart tips and tricks of time managements, study environment, paper writing, quizzes and exams.
  
  * Make a day schedule in the mornings in less than 5 mins.
  * Study-group is inefficient.
  * Prepare early
  * Solve easiest exam questions first.
  * Take smart notes.
  * Don't study for more than 2hours session ects.
  
  I wish if there were some quality advices for Design Studio in architecture schools since it's different and requires challenging energy, like to produce dozen of sheets and images plus give a presentation twice a week. Speaking of which, there is also no tips about presentation- which is crucial skill for college students.
  
  Some techniques are a bit complicated -especially the paper writing's -but there is a bunch of useful new tips to me.
  
  Recommended
  
  
• 
  Pablo

  This is a good book for anyone, not just college students. At least the first part is, where he gives the advice on managing your day and "declaring war to procrastination".
  
  I liked the book because it is straight forward, just like the tips Cal gives. Every sentence has it's place, and every one is very clear. I wouldn't expect nothing else from the author of a book on becoming an effective student! He gives concrete examples of how the advice given is applied, so the reader can fully grasp it and see how easy it is.
  
  When I said that it is a book that would benefit any one, I am talking about the first part (out of three), where he shows the very simple process to plan your day, keeping up a good-work rythm and how and when you work. This part can be applied by anyone who has tasks to get done, and seemingly endless work. It will teach them to keep things simple and allow for regeneration. The other two parts are focused on academic tactics (Quizzes and Exams and Paper and Essay writing)
  
  I gave it 3 stars instead of 4 because I already have a simplistic approach to school/project work, but I did get some tips that I will apply starting tomorrow!
  
• 
  Mehrzad M.

  بر اساس کتاب صوتی نسخه انگلیسی:
  
  اوایل که کتاب رو شروع کردم توییت کردم که کتاب رو ۱۵ سال دیر شروع کردم! خلاصه کتاب رو می تونید از تو نقد های انگلیسی بخونید. اگه بخوام راجع به محتوا بگم، راهکارهای منطقی برای پشت سر گذاشتن سال‌های دوره ی لیسانس رو پیشنهاد میده که کاربردی هستن، میشه به ��ر کورس دیگه بسط داد، حتی زندگی روزمره. تنها فرقش هم واقعا اینه که حرف دانشجوهای موفق رو ارجاع میده، نه آدم های که شاید دهه ها از فضای سنگین اون دوره دور بودن، کنار گود نشستن و میگن لنگش کن.
  اگه محصل یا دانشجو بین عزیزان تون هست این کتاب رو پیشنهاد بدید، بعدتر قطعا بایت این کار ازتون تشکر می کنن.
  
  //
• 
  Huda

  كتاب اخر عن النجاح الدراسي .
  
  الفكرة فيه ان كل نصائحه هي الطريقة التي استخدمها طلاب حقيقون في الحصول على درجاتهم العالية.
  
  ميزات الكتاب:
  
  فصل تنظيم الوقت كان مفيدا
  نصائح الكتاب عملية ومعرفة بوضوح
  وملخص نهاية كل فصل يجمعها بترتيب.
  
  عيوب الكتاب:
  النصائح المتعلقة بالتخصصات العملية(العلوم والهندسة) لم تكن جيدة
  بداية الكتاب كانت كاعلان طويل عن مميزات الكتاب.
• 
  Bianca A.

  This has been lingering in my playlist for a while, so I'm happy to have knocked it out of the way. A short and sweet audiobook on studying techniques specifically taylored for college students (but I find it can be adapted in other scenarios as well). It does the mistake of promising the world in the beginning while simultaneously putting down competition, but doesn't exactly deliver. Majority of techniques are known for those who are familiar with studying or memorization techniques in general, as well as to those who have mastered their schedule and organization skills enough to realize its importance. I didn't completely dislike the book due to a number of reasons: size was acceptable, it was concise and an useful revision despite regurgitation, it offered good examples and I definitely think it can be very useful for beginners and freshmen who never touched similar material. This was just my personal rating.
• 
  Riki

  I loved this book! I am an adult student on the 15-year route to completing my bachelors degree and feel that as I am plodding along, I am somehow just surviving and not thriving in the attainment of my education. I came upon this book by accident while searching for books about time management and downloaded it on a whim. This was by far the best idea ever.
  
  Newport spent time researching the success strategies of straight-A students from major competitive colleges across the country and compiled them in this book of trade secrets for the successful student. What I loved most about this book is that although it is peppered with some severe study ideas, for the most part it imparts the idea of studying smarter- not harder.
  
  As an adult student I am no longer focused on the having time to go to a toga party kind of distraction, but this book still spoke directly to me. I may not be reveling in a kegger at the frat house on campus, but I am certainly all for any study routine that allows me to grab a happy hour cocktail with my gainfully employed friends.
  
  I have highlighted and dogeared pages of this book for future reference in my quest for academic excellence. I was so impressed by Cal Newton's gem that I also bought his first book, How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country's Top Students. I'm curious enough to know if it is also packed to the gills with amazing college advice.
  
  Well done Cam Newton!
• 
  Ema

  This book could also be called, "How to Become an Efficient Student and Also Have Time to Do Other Things," but I guess that's too long of a title. It seems that becoming an efficient student lends itself to becoming a Straight-A student, anyway.
  
  "How to Become a Straight-A Student" is thorough for students seeking to transform their studying habits if they've been cramming their whole lives. But there is a lot in this book that could help anyone become a more productive person.
  
  I'm on my winter break and haven't yet had an opportunity to apply some of the strategies suggested in this book. But I think I will find quite a few tips in here to be especially useful to me -- I'm simply looking for a way to keep my hobbies alive without sacrificing grades. There might be things in here that I already do and have been doing, but that's more of a reason that this book was useful to me. It made me realize there are parts of my studying I'm handling pretty well, which allowed me to focus on other parts I could improve. I'm looking forward to putting a few of these tips to the test.
• 
  Thomas

  Really enjoyed reading about Straight-A students tips and tricks to become a better student.
  Found this book quite helpful, and extremely well made. I appreciated the Cheat Sheet sections after each parts, it was a great way of sticking it into our memory and I would definitely come back to these during my school time, very useful.
  
  I would recommend reading this book alongside How To Win At College from the same author, these two books are really well made and easy to follow.
• 
  Bishoy Zaki

  Although this book isn't useful for my particular field of study, I found a lot of useful insights and advice which I know to be great because I already practice it after having to learn some of the skills presented here through a lot of trial and error over the years. Another reason why I couldn't make the most out of this book is that it is mainly geared towards the American college system which is very different from the universities in my country.
  
  Nevertheless, I liked how all the chapters were focused and to the point, and most importantly from top students not someone faraway giving unrealistic advice. It introduces very practical and easy to implement systems to help out college students. Another great feature of this book is the abundance of examples or "case studies" as the author calls them to make his methods clear, and Cal Newport even provides a summary (cheat sheet) at the end of each part!
  
  So although this might not be very helpful for medstudents in particular, I like that it promotes smart techniques that make it easier to study and maintain a balanced life as opposed to the rote memorization and brute force that the author-and I-so vehemently rejects.
  
  (However, I disagree with the absurd amount of caffeine consumption the author casually suggests)
• 
  Rebecca Gordon

  When I saw How to Become a Straight A Student by Cal Newport on the library shelf I instantly decided I needed to check it out. I was interested to see the plan featured for scoring high while studying less. How to Become a Straight A Student is split into three parts. The first parts focuses on studying basics. I really found that planning your day by calendar might be really useful. I think if you plan your day out in advance as the book suggested you should remember all the tasks you need to complete on a certain day. The tips on how long to study were useful as the book said you should only study for an hour or so and then take a break. The second section of How to Become a Straight A Student focuses on how to study and take quizzes and exams. It is common knowledge that most students entering college to not know how to study. I really felt that the tips on how to study for exams were very helpful. The tips tell you how to study for a technical and nontechnical course. The plan on the book is to study less and score higher and the tips features meet and exceed that statement. The third and final section of the book focuses on how to write essays and papers. I felt this was a great section as the tips featured give you advice on how to write the best paper possible in a way where you will not be up all night working on the paper. Overall How to Become a Straight A Student gives you insightful ideas on how to optimize your studying time and how to study better,how to write a great essay without sacrificing your social life. I would recommend How to Become a Straight A Student to students going to college or already attending college and perhaps parents and educators who would like to share the advice in this book with their those interested.
• 
  Natascha

  After having read Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism, which I was so hooked on it only took a day for me to read, I thought why not read this author's other books?
  
  I was utterly disappointed. This book is mainly helpful for people / students who
  1) have no idea how to schedule their time or practise some self-constraint and
  2) students taking a non-technical course, e.g everything else except for Maths, Sciences and Engineering.
  
  To explain 1) - You would be better off reading either a book from goodreads recommended self -help list or watch some Youtube Videos about productivity. The Time Management Skills are only briefly commented at and besides the usual "pay attention in class", there is nothing of value.
  
  2) The book is divided into three parts:
  - Study Basics (shortest chapter of all, in my opinion should have been the biggest)
  - Quizzes and Exams
  - Essays and Papers
  
  ...I am not too knowledgeable on the US College System, but I claim that absolutely no engineering, science etc. student would need to write a 10 page essay of how to use an oscilloscope or so, and if there would be some kind of report they have to write, the university hands out the specific terms and conditions on how to write that report.
  
  Since I do not major in some kind of humanities, this book was pretty useless.
  
  I recommend reading " A mind for Numbers " instead.
• 
  Amit Kumar

  It's a really good book. I wish, I should have read it during my college time, it would have been totally different. Here are the key Ideas that I took:
  1. Having time table and proper time management is really important.
  2. Limit Procrastination, if you don't compromise with your goal, you will have to put lots of effort later.
  3. Long study hours are not good at all. Split it up.
  4. Find your optimal study technique When? Where? and How to?
  5. Quiz method is the most effective method of study.
  6. Work Hard and party hard is way better than work kind of hard and party kind of hard.
• 
  Higgs

  Contains some pretty helpful tips. The author really did his research by asking many straight A college students about their techniques. Makes me a lot more motivated to study properly and I'll gladly put these techniques to use.
• 
  Marium Mostafiz Mou

  Good, straightforward advice and tactics. The only issue is the portrayal of university life! I think some of these tactics will be very hard to put in medical and engineering background universities. Other than that, this book can be used as a preliminary study guide....
• 
  Annelie

  Abandoned on page 143 because this book is absolutely not worth my time and I regret buying it. I'm writing this review to save everyone else the time and frustration of having to read it. What frustrates me the most is: This book does not deal with how to learn the material.
  I've read and enjoyed
  Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. I thought this book would be great. It wasn't.
  I'm happy to say: Cal Newport has developed as a writer (or gotten a better editor) since he wrote this book.
  
  It's only 214 pages. If someone had taken out all the unnecessary "real straight-A college student", "high scoring student" and "real techniques" it would be a lot shorter. This book would have benefited from having an editor go over it a couple of times. It's not efficient or a good use of my time.
  
  I'm a medical student. Perhaps I should have gotten the hint when I read "An overwhelming interest in time management is best left to harried business executives (or, perhaps, premeds)" on p 19.
  
  part 1, Study Basics.
  Manage Your Time. This section has some good points, but he fails to mention that first of all, you need to prioritize. Life, in 2021, is overflowing with things that nag at our attention all the time. I did study at university back in 2007 and I think the advice he presents would have worked better back then. Now, it feels out of touch. Your friends aren't emailing you to suggest a group study session, they're texting/snapchatting/messaging you. In the same group chat where you're also discussing everything else.
  
  Declare War on Procrastination. Here, I hoped for some solid advice. Didn't get any. Again, the advice is for 2007 when you.. had to rent a movie to watch it. When you favorite tv show aired once a week. It's just not applicable to the current situation. Or Cal Newport doesn't understand what it's like to truly be a procrastinator.
  
  Choose When, Where, and How Long Eight pages that could be summarized with: Don't postpone all your work, do a little something every day. Dedicate daytime to studying, as if it's your job, and you can play at night. Decide how long a working block should be (no longer than an hour), take a short break, work again. Don't think you can study in front of the TV.
  
  part 2: Quizzes and Exams
  Take Smart Notes He recommends you bring a laptop to class to take notes. I would say: Do Not Do This. Every person I've seen bring a laptop to class spends the absolute majority of the time either typing up every single word the professor says (not a good use of your attention) or clicking through Facebook, iMessage, inbox filled with newsletters about things to buy, back to Facebook, pick up phone check snapchat, send snap to friend in class, back to iMessage to tell them you sent a snap (obviously: also not a good use of your attention). It's 2021, most schools provide a detailed pdf with the lecture slides and you only need to note down any additional information that's not provided on the slides. Most research I've read suggest that taking notes by hand enhances your memory and forces you to prioritize what to write down. Many even recommend not taking notes at all. This part is just.. what?
  Q / E / C note taking - sure, go ahead. But google it or whatever. You don't need this book for it.
  What I'm missing in this chapter: HOW to determine what's important and what's just some kind of supportive reasoning or the professor rambling about his research but it won't actually come up on the exam. And again, Newport's advice on note taking in general is not relevant in 2021.
  
  Demote Your Assignments he recommends you don't do all assignments and skip a lot of the reading but barely tell you how to prioritize what to do. Many sentences to explain that you should skip, very few on how to do it without also missing out on a lot of learning. I've seen too many students not to enough assignments. (They're there for a reason!) There are no proper recommendations on how to read textbooks and how to take notes when reading. The tips on reading he does give are.. not good.
  
  Marshal Your Resources Some solid advice (figure out what the exam will cover, spend some time organizing your material, put together problem sets). But then... when he recommends flash cards, he writes "fortunately, this technique is easy /.../ If possible, start writing up your cards at least a week before the first dat you plan to actually study. The activity is mindless". ??? First of all: "you plan to actually study" - I thought we'd just gone over that you study a bit every day? Second: flash card creation being mindless? The challenges with flash cards are: deciding if the subject is compatible with flash card learning, making sure you've understood the material well enough to put it on a flash card, and constructing a good flash card. There are long online documentations on how to deal with the challenges of flash cards. I've seen people ruin weeks of flash card studying because they'd misunderstood the subject. Or spend hour creating flash cards just to realize: oh, it's not even on the exam. Successful flash card creation requires a lot of work and isn't some "mindless" activity and should be thought of as studying.
  
  Conquer the Material. This is where I really gave up on this book bringing me any insights. This is also where I started feeling "oh, I think I'm actually becoming worse at studying...". Newport presents the Quiz-and-Recall method but doesn't really seem to understand it.
  
  Invest in "Academic Disaster Insurance" here, he spends many pages explaining: make sure you have at least a basic understanding of everything that's been covered during classes, don't think "it won't be on the exam" or "I can understand that later". Makes sense. I rolled my eyes so much during this part I could barely read it.
  
  Provide A+ answers I guess this is where I really realized that Cal Newport has nothing to teach me about studying.
  
  The Plan in Action here, I started questioning the American education system (I'm European). A week for understanding what a derivative is, what it describes, and how to calculate one? In college? I learnt this during my 12th year in school, which would be high school. Some kids learn it during their 11th year.
  
  And there, I gave up.
  I suppose this book was perhaps slightly helpful when it came out, but it's out of date now. The advice doesn't apply to the reality of studying and dealing with distractions and prioritizing. It offers no insight in how to use assignments and recommended reading to enhance your learning. It doesn't mention stuff like problem based learning, discussion groups, that you need to learn basic facts before you can move on to more complex problems. Overall, it's not a good book. I wish I hadn't attempted to read it, because reading it made me question everything Cal Newport has ever written or said.
  
  What to read instead?
  
  Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
  
  Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
  and check out
  Learning how to Learn on Coursera.
• 
  Hirdesh

  I was A class too,,
  it has many things i did,,,,