How to Become a Straight-A Student

Michael Seraph reviewed How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport

Brief but actionable handbook

5 stars

The book is divided into three sections: Fundamentals, Exam preparation, and paper writing. All sections give a satisfactory overview of the processes proposed by Newport. From applying the advice in this book, I managed to improve my grades.

A lot of things in the book might be perceived as common sense. But common sense does not equal common practice. Therefore I think even obvious advice, such as "study in isolation" or "block out time to work on things", deserve to be in the book.

If you are looking for a writing guide, or specific memorization techniques, this book is not for you. In all areas it presents structures to follow. Still, if you adapt the presented info to your situation, I think the book holds a lot of value

Chris Aldrich reviewed How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport

Review of 'How to Become a Straight-A Student' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I read this hoping for some side material on memory, but was disappointed to find it entirely lacking. It did suggest using flash cards, but didn't delve into or reference any of the literature supporting why flash cards work or how to use them best.

The book certainly wasn't aimed at me in general, as most of the material seemed like common sense, though it was common sense that most students choose to eschew or ignore though they know it well. It's the academic equivalent of saying that smoking and fast food are bad for you while knowing that most people will ignore the advice.

Some of the time management material is simply a watered down or vastly simplified version of things like GTD (Getting Things Done) or similar devices. There are a few useful bon mots for the totally clueless, but I'm glad I sped read through it, so …

I read this hoping for some side material on memory, but was disappointed to find it entirely lacking. It did suggest using flash cards, but didn't delve into or reference any of the literature supporting why flash cards work or how to use them best.

The book certainly wasn't aimed at me in general, as most of the material seemed like common sense, though it was common sense that most students choose to eschew or ignore though they know it well. It's the academic equivalent of saying that smoking and fast food are bad for you while knowing that most people will ignore the advice.

Some of the time management material is simply a watered down or vastly simplified version of things like GTD (Getting Things Done) or similar devices. There are a few useful bon mots for the totally clueless, but I'm glad I sped read through it, so it was an hour's worth of mildly entertaining diversion.

Most of the advice isn't too different from that of my friend David Zucker, though for some of the high school crowd going to college, the book could have benefited from some of his general advice.