6 Tips to Succeeding in College (From a 4.0 Graduate)

I ranked 80-something out of 120-ish people in my high school class. I was in the last quarter of students in my grade.

Needless to say, I had no expectations of success in college. Zero.

I was an unmotivated teenager in high school, bristling with a fear of failure and adrift to places I had yet to contemplate.

So, going into college, I made one promise to myself: I was going to try my best. No matter if that meant flunking out my first semester, I was going to give it my all. Because I wanted to do something with my life.

Fast forward four years later and there I was: 1 out of 3,884 people in my graduating class:

So, how did I do it? How did I go from literally the last quarter of my high school class to first in college?

The educational system in our country is largely designed to prepare you for college, and some do a commendable job of it.

But unless you’re one of the few students that just gets it right off the bat, you feel as if the 12-plus years you spent preparing for your post-high school education was a waste of time.

I know that I did, as I walked aimlessly into my first college class like it was the first time I’d ever seen a classroom before.

But as I went on in my college career, I realized something: This college thing is actually not that complicated.

Along the way, I learned numerous “hacks” or as I lay them out in this article, tips, on how to be as successful as you want to be in college.

If me, a self-described idiot in high school can go from “worst-to-first,” then anybody can. You just have to know how to get there.

These six tips will help you get there. Let’s get into it:

1. Treat College Like a Job

The first tip on this list is probably something you’ve heard before. But it is an old adage that couldn’t be closer to the truth.

Whoever is paying for your college, whether you or a gracious loved one, is paying thousands of dollars a semester for you to go to school.

That means it’s time to stop copying homework answers right before class and waiting until the last minute to study for a major exam (FYI: I did both of these in high school).

When you have a job and want to keep it, you get there on time. You do your work and you do it well. The same rules should apply to your college education.

Show up to class when you’re supposed to, take good notes, ask for help when you need it. Basically, care about it like you would a job you want to keep.

Pro Tip: Start studying for exams at least a week before you’re scheduled to take it. Take it section-by-section. If you spend 30–60 minutes each night learning and truly comprehending a section at a time, that is 5–7 hours you don’t have to spend cramming for a test the night before.

The University of North Texas, where I attended college. Photo courtesy of H4H.

2. Don’t Be Scared of the Syllabus

The first week of college should be illegal. It’s an amalgamation of due dates, textbooks, new professors, new classmates, etc. It was easily the most overwhelming part of a semester for me, even more than Final Exam Week.

But you know what I learned during my eight full semesters of college? There was never any reason to stress over the seemingly endless amount of work laid out in the syllabus.

Everything feels like a sprint the first week, but when you really sit down and start planning it out, you find that it’s really just a tick above a marathon.

Which brings up the all-important skill of time management. Time management is a craft that necessitates constant re-crafting; having the ability to juggle task after task without overburdening yourself is possibly the most helpful skill you can learn in college.

It takes time. My adolescent and immature brain didn’t help me hone my time management skills during grades K-12, so I had practically no experience properly managing time going into college.

What I noticed throughout my college career is I got better at it every semester. No matter how advanced or difficult the classes were, I was able to find a way to block out enough time to do my tasks while still having fun on the side.

Here are a few tips within a tip to help you time-manage properly:

• Spend at least 1–2 hours studying/doing homework outside of class every day during the week.
• Prioritize the classes that require the most work. Make sure to balance out your schedule (more on this later).
• Study at least a week before each exam.
• Use online classes if you think in-person lectures wouldn’t benefit you.
• If you need to make money, try an independent job for work where you can make your own schedule (I used DoorDash but there’s plenty of others).
• Don’t waste your time by reading “recommended readings” or non-trivial textbooks.

That last bullet point segues us perfectly into my next tip:

3. Don’t Do More Work Than You Need To

I cannot tell you how much time I wasted in college doing non-critical tasks.

Some of these included:

• Writing notes over something I didn’t need to know for a test or quiz.
• Writing notes word-for-word from a PowerPoint that was going to be posted online after the lecture.
• Reading “additional readings” or watching “recommended videos” that, although helpful, were not essential to doing well on assignments.
• Doing assignments by myself when I could’ve done them in a group and lightened my workload.

As you go through college, you’ll start to develop a skill I refer to as the “Essential Task” skill.

That means reading the textbooks you absolutely need to read to do well on a quiz. It means doing every assignment on time and starting early when studying for tests.

It does not mean write everything you see on the screen or reading everything on the “recommended readings” list. Our time, especially in college, is valuable; don’t waste it doing tasks you don’t really need to do.

Also: The worst kept secret in school is Quizlet. If you have an “Open notes” quiz or a series of assignments where the professor could care less about how you complete them, use your resources!

And: If the professor says something like “This textbook is not required but it would be super helpful to have!” DO NOT buy it. There will be nothing in there that directly translates to a test. Save your money.

4. Use Rate My Professors and Register Early

One of the best things you can do to ensure success in college is to get a good and fair professor.

Luckily, there is a website called Rate My Professors that should be your go-to resource when picking classes for your next semester.

The Rate My Professors website.

I used it every semester, and it helped me get some awesome professors. And every one of them, even if they were difficult sometimes, were objective when issuing grades.

To get the good professors though, you’ve got to register early. As soon as registration opens for next semester, have Rate My Professors up and get your next semester scheduled.

Tip: Always meet with your academic advisor before scheduling classes. Find the date that registration begins for next semester and schedule a meeting before that date with your advisor to go over the classes you should take next.

5. Do Extra Credit

I truly can’t remember one college class I took throughout my career that didn’t offer some form of extra credit.

Even professors that said the first week “Don’t rely on extra credit being offered,” ended up coming around at the end of the semester.

I almost always did extra credit, even when I didn’t think I needed to. In my experience, extra credit usually involved watching a documentary or movie and writing a page or two of takeaways.

There’s two reasons why I would do extra credit when offered:

1. It gives you extra points and somewhat of a safety net if you completely bomb a quiz or exam.

2. It shows the professor that you care. Professors love students who actually take a genuine interest in their class.

Unless you’re certain you don’t need it, always do extra credit when it’s available — you’ll thank yourself later.

6. Have Fun and Try Not to Stress

The last tip to succeeding in college? Enjoy it, and try not to overwhelm yourself.

I treated college like a full-time job, with my class time, study time and homework exceeding the 30–40 hour range some weeks.

Even as maniacally as I approached college, I still had time to work out, play guitar, play basketball, go to parties, and not to mention, do seasonal and part-time jobs to pay for my expenses.

I lived the college life while treating it as serious as one could treat it.

Not all situations are created equal. I met numerous people in college that worked full-time jobs or had a family to take care of in addition to taking a full slate of classes.

Also, the major you choose can dictate how strenuous your college workload will be. If you decide to go the medical or law school route, you’re probably going to have a different experience than somebody majoring in the arts.

I’m lucky enough to have experienced college at a time in my life where I could centrally focus on it. Not everybody is going to be set up perfectly for success.

But one of the best pieces of advice I can give to somebody with aspirations of success in college is to take a deep breath, learn a lot and enjoy it all.

Yes, college can be nerve-racking, especially as you’re trying to figure out what to do with your adult life. I’m not here to say it’s easy.

But it’s also not as difficult as grade schools portray it to be. If you give true effort and have a genuine desire to learn what you are pursuing, you will be shocked at how much you can achieve.