Professors' Guide to Getting Good Grades in College

by Lynn F. Jacobs, Jeremy S. Hyman

The Professors' Guide to Getting Good Grades in College is the first book to reveal the insider secrets about how professors really grade. The book offers high-value, practical tips about how to succeed at each of the five "grade-bearing" moments of the (1) The Start (2) The Class (3) The Exam (4) The Paper and (5) The Last Month of the Semester . Fast-paced, entertaining, and easy-to-follow, the Professors' Guide will help you get truly excellent grades in college.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Reference

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2006

Reviews

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about half of this, and overall it was just ehhhhhhh. I'd say the biggest takeaway so far is to pay attention to what the professor says is important / isn't important, but that's pretty obvious.

This book won't help a C student get to being an A student, but it might help people who are procrastinating feel like they're still doing something productive while reading this book instead of studying.

Good luck on your exams. ;)

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed hearing from professors about their personal experiences, and the audiobook kept me company on long rides. The main issue is that the book could pretty much be boiled down to a brisk “Just use the professor’s office hours for once!”

The book gets quite repetitive with telling students to speak with the professor and ask for their input—which is excellent advice, but it gets a little disappointing as the answer to every question in the book regarding studying or working on a project.

My thoughts, in brief: A pleasant audiobook for listening to some professors chat about their experiences. But if you’re looking for tips and don’t want to sit down to read or listen to this: talk to your professor!

[Sofiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent introduction to college. Self explanatory and surface level, but it’s expected

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Perfect for those already in college, those getting ready to attend a university, or even teens who are beginning to think about which college they'd like to attend, the PROFESSORS' GUIDE TO GETTING GOOD GRADES IN COLLEGE is a must-have! This is a book filled not just with advice, but with actual facts on how to take good notes during a lecture, how
professors grade papers, and even how to prepare for tests and exams.

The book is broken down into five parts, with additional chapters in each:

Part 1: The Start--10 Common Myths About Grades in College; How Do Professors Grade, Anyway?; and FAQs About Picking Courses with an Eye to Grades.

Part 2: The Class--Your Action Plan for the First Week of Class; Top 10 Tips for Taking Excellent Lecture Notes; and Why Prepare? Why Attend? Why Participate?

Part 3: The Exam--13 Best Ideas for A+ Test-Preparation; Acing Exams by Adjusting Your Attitudes; and The Hidden Value in Going Over Your Test.

Part 4 The Paper--Understanding the Assignment; Doing the Analysis, Doing the Research; Do's and Don't's for Going to See the Professor; and Top 10 Tips for Constructing the Perfect Paper.

Part 5: The Last Month--The 4 Hazards of the Last Month of the Semester; and 17 Strategies for Acing the Final.

With great mini-quizzes, notes from visiting professors, and checklists to keep track of your strategies, this is a book perfect for any older teen. If everyone had a copy of the PROFESSORS' GUIDE TO GETTING GOOD GRADES IN COLLEGE before setting off for that first semester, college would be a whole lot less stressful!

[Riki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Professors' Guide begins with a lot of chitchat and explanation of how the authors will be presenting their material in a witty student-friendly fashion, but jumps right in with the useful advice after the introduction.

The nice thing about this book is that is it peppered with anecdotes and ideas from actual professors who have clearly seen and heard it all. Hearing how students come across to them in office hours is especially helpful. Knowing what to ask in office hours has always been a struggle for me, and this book lays down what you need to know (and what it is okay to have no idea about) to be prepared when you step into your professor or teaching assistant's office.

The advice for writing papers was also helpful. The authors clearly explain the difference between a research and analytic paper, which is extremely helpful to a student just beginning college. Even as an adult student with many years of college behind me, I found this book very helpful. I would recommend it as a gift to a high school senior about to embark on a college career.

[Corley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very, very helpful in helping me acquire good study habits. I read it once my senior year of high school and again my first semester of college. I can certainly say the suggestions benefited me greatly and enabled me to achieve the A grades I desired. I DEFINITELY recommend this book!

[MaryAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful guide, but seems more skewed towards students who study more research based majors. All the advice was great, but not much of it applied to me as a film major. Good for students who write a lot of papers and/or take a lot of tests.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all the snark this book has, it actually has some good advice for doing well in college. Some of it was really obvious logic, but there were a lot of things I hadn't thought of before. A good companion to The College Girl's Guide to Everything (if you're a girl, that is). :)

[SC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of practical advice with clear instructions.

[Avid Reader and Geek Girl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights into professors minds and the grading process and what to do and not to do.

[Mills College Library]

378.17032 J174 2006

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are useful parts of this book worth trying. I thought the final exam portion seemed to be pretty vague and did not offer much help. Overall, the book is an easy read and maybe useful to many.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated. Some helpful ideas and a lot of generalization.

[Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got me straight As so not complaining