Making good grades- is it a skill or a gift?
 

I've always been a B student, at best. And lately I've been wondering- a lot. People are always telling me how smart I am, but it makes me wonder if I really will be able to make an A.

What makes a good student?

I always remember song lyrics or the plot line from a movie, so why not a chemistry formula or how to solve mathematical equations? Sure, I can solve the rubik's cube and figure out how to play songs by hearing them, but why can't I distinguish a verb from a noun?

What makes a good student? Is it something that anyone can acquire with the right attitude and right mindset and the habits? Will I be able to make the leap from the 2.5 in highschool to the 3.7 that I want?

Or do you believe that there are just smart people who are inheriently able to remember things better and do well in school?

I truly think that with a lot of effort in your studying, a student that fails with an F constantly can become an A student. I've done it myself. Before highschool I was getting D's and F. So when I went into highschool I buckled down and study my ass off.

I think that part of your confusion with yourself is that a good memory has very little to do with intelligence. Or perhaps a better way of saying that is that there are many different types of intelligence. Chemistry and mathematics are not about memorization. They require the ability to construct logical arguments out of relatively few memorized bits of information.

As for whether anyone can get A's, that depends on what you're doing. In most highschools, I think that most could do it with enough self-discipline. I don't think the same is true of a difficult university curriculum. Some people have the skills and some don't. Personal motivation and an ability to focus will get you far, but there's a limit. And everyone's limits are different.

My parents always stressed this and the difference in abilities to learn.

My dad, back in his college days, had a roommate. The guy would never study but still got perfects on all of his tests. He barely even read the book for the class. Meanwhile my dad would study for 3+ hours a day and still only get a B.

The difference was that the other guy could learn anything very quickly, and retain it, while my dad had to practice it to even get the basic idea.

Also from what you've mentioned you sound to be a more of an artistic person. I forget which half is which, but one half of the brain handles math and sciences while the other is atristic with creativity and the like. If you're more one side the other will most likely be weaker. I've seen both ways in many people. That engineer who can't solve a problem without an equation, or the artist who can barely add.

I think you really just need to find a good way to study. Find out what helps you best to learn something (repetition, association, whatever) and try learning everything that way.

I get C's when I don't try at all. When I half ass try I get B's so I am aware that if I really applied myself I would get an A.

As far as left brain versus right brain, you seem to be right brain dominant. You're doomed to a life of being artistic and creative in a world that wants you to meet deadlines and crunch numbers.

The thing that makes a good student is not knowing everything, but understaning how to give back exactly what teachers want to hear and kissing ass like it's second nature.

That's pretty true, MrSelfDestruct. I've gotten to the point that when I read through the text, I can say to myself, "This will be on the test. That won't be on the test."

The deeper I get into college, though, I'm happily recognizing that the instructors are more focusing on the big picture rather than minute details. As someone who almost never studies, my strategy has been to become familiar with concepts and themes.

With a strong grasp of the subject at hand, the details tend to work themselves out when it comes test time.

I realized this sad fact towards the end of my Senior year english class. My papers with original thought got average grades, and my papers which parroted the teacher got near perfects. I stopped trying to be insightful and simply wrote papers on what the teacher said in class; my grade skyrocketed sadly.

Hmm, okay here's me.. from Malaysia so.. the syllabus and examinations a bit different..

Of course, always wanted to be the top boy but it was always out of reach in the 9th grade. But after that when I was in the 10th .. somehow showed some amazing leap and became like 3rd 4th 5th. Different ways of studying, different subjects, I went into science stream. With hard work and a lot of sleepness nights due to study, scored well and got 2nd.

Conclusion : hard work makes a good student :)

I absorb information quickly and It sticks around in my head for a pretty good while. I don't know alot things I would have learned later in highschool because I dropped out(wish I hadn't now) but I still think that it would have been easy for me to pick up. I aced my GED last year without studying. I remember my counselor telling me I wasn't being challenged enough. My slacker friends would get mad at me because I was slacking. ALOT of people were disappointed because I wasn't trying in school. People would always tell me "You could do so good if you just tried." I figured they said that to every slacker, but it was true. I think if I had put the tiniest bit of effort into school I could have been top of my class, but of course I was too naive then.

To answer your question, Yes some people can learn and understand things better and with less effort, but hardwork will also get you to your goal. If you're having trouble understanding something, talk to your professor and ask him/her if they have any advice on how you can do better in their class.

Take a couple of learning style inventories. With just a little searching you'll find some online. Some will even tell you what works best for different learning styles based on memorizing etc.

It also, helps to try and figure out what type of learning style your teacher is. That way you can tailor your papers, and in class responses to what floats your teachers boat.

Effort is way more important that intelligence in getting grades. Note that I said getting grades, not understanding the subject. I know kids who barely understand what is going on, but have figured out the class and do everything- extra credit, tell the teacher- "nice lecture", buy them a x-mas gift and somehow end up with a good grade.

More often then not it's an exercise in hoop jumping, endurance, and creative ass kissing.

Well, I think it is a bit of both. Almost anyone can remeber something with near perfection, as long as it intrests them. Think about how many movie lines you can recall off the top of you head or how many songs you know by heart. The key is training yourself to keep that retention with things that don't intrest you as much. Some people are better at naturaly, but I think anyone can train themselves to that point if they really work at it

In the past i naturally get good grades without revising at all and basicly slacking, some people can get away with it, but i think with enough studying anyone can get good grades, some people just get an headstart in the learning department over others

It's best to remember that Teachers teach to a bell-curve type coverage, they try and get the highest grades from the entire class.

There is always the 5% that falls outside of 6-sigma.. 2.5% are smarter and not being taught / challanged properly and likewise the bottom 2.5% are not being taught properly.. Well thats my excuse and I'm sticking too it..

You also have to remember that you listen to songs hundreds of times - its not surprising that lyrics stick, but most people don't read the text book that often...

My dad always tells me it's how much you study. he said he wasn't the smartest guy in MIT while there but he studied his ass off. i'm talking bout sleeping every other night and not going to sleep ever before 3... he finished his undergrad and master in 4 years. graduated top 3 of his class. well, i think it requires bit of initial intelligence but how much you study definately counts. the attitude with which you study also matters a whole lot~

That is a great point that I never considered. I always thought song lyrics were easy to remember because the music itself is a mnemonic device. There are people who have memorized huge passages from the Bible or parts of other texts because they had read them so many times.

Maybe intense, repetitive studying can help...

Our brains are hardly used to the max. I forgot the percentage of our brain usage.. but it's about 10% or less I think.

So consider that :) Einstein was of course, using much much more of his brain.

That's an old wive's tale. Your brain doesn't have a fixed capacity though. Studying enough will improve it. To a point.

Study is good, you can do it, believe in yourself, and the Force will guide you...

this from an A+ student...

1 day till the MCAT!

to me a more interesting insight is do you want to go along with the program. do you want to remember things from rote (?) do you want to get good grades by spitting out what the teacher thinks. do you want to the play the game.

i realize to get along in society and to be successful by society's standards you need a good education. but is this a good education. are you being taught to think independently, to have original thought.

maybe my thoughts don't belong here because you just want to know how to get good grades. but i'm asking is that the goal.

Re: Making good grades- is it a skill or a gift?
 

There are both kinds. My roommate in law school studied every waking hour, made outlines for every day's class, and was Valedictorian.

I rarely went to class, never studied, and read the entire text and a friend's notes one week before exams. I had a 3.5 avg and was the youngest graduate in the history of Univ. of S. Carolina law at 22 years 2 months in age.

The moral is that some people are good students because they know the material through studying. Some people are good students because they intuitively know how to solve problems. A cursory understanding of the material will give these people the edge.

I think it just depends on the person. I never study unless it's the day before (sometimes the day OF) the exam. Ever. Never, EVER study. I hate it. It's boring and I don't like doing it.

I'm one of those people who sit in class like "what the FUCK are this professor talking about?" while everyone is like "oh I understand!" and are answering questions that they ask and everything. They make 60-70% on the exams and I make a 95%.

My GPA is 3.67 cumulative, I've never studied outside of a test.

If I studied I am fully confident I could have a 4.0 GPA......but to me, it's just not worth it. I'm too lazy :)


I guess what I have is a gift (being able to learn 6 chapters in one night). I do know that it does take a certain amount of giftedness/skill to make good grades. I know some people that just don't "get" school. They study for HOURS upon HOURS and still make Cs and Ds.

I agree that there are 2 types of students who make good grades. Ones that study constantly and ones that just has it. Too bad I can't be the last one, or the first one.

As others have mentioned before, there are different types of intelligence. Generally, verbal intelligence is more highly correlated with class grades than mathematical intelligence. I'll have to look up the reference.

I think that there are inherently smart people. I also think that there are people who are inherently hard-working. I disagree with the idea that intelligence is inherent, but will is not. I think that both intelligence and ability to exert one's will (work hard, etc.), are similarly inherent. If I recall correctly, IQ and Need for Achievement (a personality variable relating to being "hard-working") are moderately heritable.

This is really interesting. I always blamed my mom for not instilling good work ethic in me. She was pretty depressed and distant and I usually got away with doing my own thing. Now, I can out-procrastinate anyone. With this revelation, I can still blame her but in a different way: She gave me her lazy genes. I don't need Freud to blame my mom anymore. Haha, just kidding. Maybe.

I've noticed in life that there are not only smart people and dumb people, but also people with differing degree of distorted reality. So, if you think you are dumb, don't be so sure. If you think you are smart, don't be so sure either. You are most likely to be pretty average.

Your grade generally reflects how much you apply yourself, but that's not always true. Someone could study their ass off and still get a C/D. I think the reason is a lot of people tend to study by just memorizing certain things instead of trying to truly understand the subject/topic being taught.

A good example for this would be math. People will just memorize theorems and techniques left and right without actually trying to get the big picture of what the particular topic is trying to convey. I saw this a lot in my calc class during the optimization/derivative problems. People would ask the same questions, so you could tell they weren't REALLY understanding what the optimization problems were trying to convey or why the methods involved were being used.

By looking at the subject from a different angle instead of a "shit, I gotta memorize 20 terms" or "i gotta memorize this detailed diagram of the kreb's cycle", it can completely cut out all the endless hours you'd normally spend studying. Easier said than done, of course, but the trick is in finding it, and for me, it's generally not all that difficult to find and point out. I tend to use real world examples to help me visualise everything. I'm by no means a prodigy or anything, either, just your avg person.

I used to be the kind of person in HS that studied by memorizing everything, but it quickly became a chore which resulted in low grades because I didn't feel like spending 4 hours a night doing stuff. I graduated a 2.5 student. Now that I'm in college, I'm taking a different approach, and that's actually trying to wrap my mind around what's being taught.. so far I have 3.75 GPA. I have a B here and there from slackin because I hated the particular class and has no desire to give it an A effort. Like english, I hated reading "classic" novels and doing book reports, so pointless especially if I'm going into computer engineering.

But to answer the question.. it's just something you need to practice at. Anyone can do it. There ARE some people who can get away with never studying, like my g/f. She doesn't EVER study and has a straight 4.0 GPA in college. She happens to grasp the bigger picture of things a lot quicker than I can, so it seems immediate while I often sit there for a while thinking about it before it "hits" me.

grades are a function of ability and effort
 

Grades depend on a combination of ability and effort. By ability, I do not mean just general IQ. Some people find some topics easy and others hard. I doubled majored in psychology and economics in college. I studied the same for both types of classes but made much better grades in psychology. The psych material just fit the way I think bettr than did the econ material. The less ability you have in a particular topic area, the harder you have to study in order to understand and remember that material.

Just a hint: Do not try to memeorize stuff - you will not retain it very long that way. Instead, try to understand it. When you read something, ask yourself - Does this make sense? Would I have guessed this before reading it? If yes, you know the material, so move on. If no, then come up with a reason you should have known or guessed it. Once you have such a reason, then you know the material and can recreate it.

Getting good grades isn't a skill or gift. It is about having an unwavering interest and passion about your field of study and life in general.

Being a psych and econ double major myself (there's actually more than just me in this world!?) I'm going to second everything you said. I study the same for both degrees,but it takes extra work for my econ grades to come as easily as the pysch degrees. It helps that I LOVE econ, because it keeps me motivated to work the extra time it takes to really understand the material.

I'm personally of the impression that it has everything to do with discipline and the right kind of motivation. I don't say this as someone who works hard and does well, but someone who has every opportunity to do well and doesn't. There's a mix of both ability and effort. Ability can make it easier for someone, but any amount of ground can be covered by enough plain effort. People who get up on time every morning, do a few hours of homework every night, and pay close attention in class are always going to do well, in spite of what their IQ may be. To me, effort is not a natural thing. It comes from finding the right kind of motivation. For example, Students punished for bad grades don't do as well as students rewarded for good grades, and neither of these categories hold a candle to students who find some reason within themselves (competative nature, pride, ambition) to push themselves to success.

I believe a person's genes are a major factor in their intellect. Not to brag but I am a straight A student at a world ranked university and I hardly have to work for my grade. Teachers will have the class read a book of essays for homework. I only skim the the first and last page and come into class and out perform all the other students. I believe that the ease of learning is different for everyone. And that somepeople have to work harder for an A than others. Nonetheless everyone is capable of an A its just not everyone puts forth the effort.

Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning
Repetition is the key to learning

Yep.. hokieian hit it on the head I think.

I've know a lot of really, what I consider, stupid people. The kind of people that if you try and talk to it almost hurts because they have no common sense... but what they lacked in common sense they made up for in grades because they were always studying. There was this girl at my high school... she happened to be a cheerleader and fit the mold well - blonde, didn't look bad and didn't have a clue where she was at any given moment. She happened to be in my trig class, which was a moderately high level class ( there were only 2 higher maths than that - calc and stats ). Anyway, on multiple occasions the teacher would try to build up on simple things that we had hopefully learned in geography like the rules for 30,60,90 triangles and 45,45,90 triangles. Every time she went over things like that, without failing, that girl would raise her hand and ask what whatever we were going over was. She was pulling a 4.0+ GPA and was ranked in the top 10% of the class.

I've found that the people who study hard generally do better than their more cavalier counterparts, even when those people who aren't working so much are a lot quicker on the uptake.

On 10-20 minutes a night through high school, I got into the National Honor Society and kept in it through my senior year. The required percentage GPA for membership was 93.0 and I think my first semester senior percentage was 93.067. I didn't get any special recognition or rank near the top of my class at all, but I did what I thought was 'good enough'.

My brother, on the other hand, will go entire weeks and weekends without taking anything more than a brief computer break and scraping for 6 hours of sleep a night. He's a junior now, and last year I believe he was 3rd or 4th in his class of 130 and change. To him, the sacrifice of the other things he would rather be doing is acceptible for the happiness that being at the top of the academic heap gives him.

On the high school level, at least, it largely has to do with how bad you want it. It isn't incredibly difficult for most people to just get by, get the diploma, and go on to the university. The inner, raw desire to "win" the high school game is what makes people from all across the various levels of natural intellect work to come out on top.

Study harder and the A is possible. I know from experience

It really depends on the person and your style of learning. For some you need to learn how to study. Other can sit and listen to a lecture and be good to go. Luckily for me I can get A's just by sitting and listening so I am good to go with very little preperation. It's nice.

I have typcially done well in school... when I went. My strength, though, is my reading speed/comprehension. In second grade, I was tested for reading and according to the test (who really knows how accurate they are) I was reading at the 11th grade level. I used to hide under my covers and read whatever I could find when I was little via flashlight... needless to say, I now wear contacts.

I can pretty much pick up nearly anything with ease - although I do seriously struggle with anything "artsy", minute details, and geometric math. I can typically grasp the big picture very quickly, but definately need to work on other skills.

I suck terribly at Memory.... the game where you flip cards over for pairs? In my AP Psych class we did an experiment with different types of intelligence. Basically, we had a Memory Tournament. I was knocked out 2nd. In fact, there was only 1 person in our class that had an A in the class that scored within the top half of the tournament. Those with the lowest grades ended up taking the very top ranks - very interesting, in my opinion. It really goes to show that schools only test a certain kind of intelligence.

Anyway, back to the original topic - I believe that getting high marks in schools in both a gift and a skill. I scored pretty much straight A's though most of school - occasionally only attending class maybe two weeks out of the entire semester. However, I know many people that struggled with the material we were dealing with, and still made high grades because they studied so hard. Unfortunately, schools only seem to test for one type of intelligence, and if you don't have that specific kind, it will be a whole lot harder for you to achieve high marks, but it certainly isn't impossible. One good thing about it is that all those people that worked very hard to obtain their grades will have a very good work ethic instilled with them. Some of us that just coasted on through may get a slap in the face by the real world when we find out that coasting just won't cut it.

Test-taking skills make the grade.

IMHO,

one of the main points was stated before - don't memorize the material - grasp an understanding and appreciation of the subject, and do what you can to relate to other experiences/subjects/etc...

[H.S. senior here]
Last year, my trig class [honors] was pretty difficult, my teacher focused making us understand the outlying concepts behind it instead of just memorizing a bunch of crap.
There's probably a correlation with his teaching methods [previously taught in japan] and at least some of our successes [almost all of us aced the department. final last year].....
---- Because of that, analysis is easy, and i can get away with doing the H.W. in class.

*****
THe other main point, which I discovered to be true, [mainly applies to high school, maybe it does for college too, unknown...] is how you were taught growing up [in the classroom] in junior high and high school yrs.

My elementary school prepared me very poorly for high school.... [its a college prep/private, btw] and it showed - I had no work ethic, since everyone in each grade @ the elementary school was placed in just one classroom of 30 or so; and I was bored out of my mind, learning more from reading the newspaper and library books during class. :|

Meanwhile, some of the other high school classmates were placed in 'gifted' programs when they were younger; then reaped the advantages in high school [taking honors/advanced classes]

What that meant for me was getting a 2.1 GPA freshman year, then working my ass off quite a bit, developing study habits, and a work ethic; to get where I'm a more rigorous pace......


[with my kids, if i have any, they'll be going to montessorri......]

/1st post @ TFP

dont forget to kiss your professors asses, or at least ask them questions and get them to help you out after school or class for a few minutes. This will allow them to know that you are working hard (or at least make them think that) and they might be a little more leniant on your grading. Just the other day I was able to convince my history professor to bump my grade from a 87 (B) to a 90 (A) just by speaking with her after class. Though this technique does not always work. Last year I had a history professor that I shot the shit with after every class for about fifteen minutes, he told me in one of these asskissing sessions that I was definately going to get an A in the class. That bastard gave me a C but I think he was a little crazy/unstable so that might have been it.

Both, you can do well by being either good or by working hard...

I get A's in computer science basically without turning up because I understand the subject and have a good grasp of it.

I get A-D in Electrical engineering because I don't grasp it intutively so must work at it... barely scraped through this year because I got like 2 hours revision for each course (~ half way reading through the notes... no examples or stuff).

Some people know stuff intuitively or grasp it very quickly, others don't or can't... hard work can get round most of the later however it can take a lot of work, I sound really like a stereotyper here but its true... hardwork => intuitive learning, however it takes a lot of hardwork to beat a hardworking intitive learner (I know from High School... man it sucks being 2nd when you know you could do better if you tried!)

Study hard, 2 to 3 hours of study for each hour of class. Take good notes and sit in the front of the class and listen the lectures usually cover the test material. Get to know your teachers, when I taught I gave extra consideration to motivated and interested students, you don't have to suck up, just show your serious about an education. Try your hardest to get in an honors program, they are much more interesting and can actually be easier than the drill in a regular course. And most importantly realize that education is a lifetime journey. Over emphasizing grades for short term goals can ruin the purpose of an education which in my mind is to develop our potential as valuable members of the human community. Just my 2 cents worth, I really don no nuffin....

Damn... i wish i was like one of those ppl that get everything at once... sadly im not

So now I guess studying is what is done... I think its a gift basically... some people reach their limit at like B while others they jsut dont work and get really high marks. Sucks.

My point of view, as a student, is that getting good grades is a skill, but not in the traditional way of thinking. It is more of a skill of being able to manipulate the grading system, to do as little as possible and still make the grade. I, myself have become quite skilled at it.

Skill that you learn. For things where you write essays or papers or thesis let me say
If you want a good grade- you learn early on to put what the teacher WANTS to hear- unless its an opinion paper- but even then- you can sense what they want usually ;) for instance if the professer is religious, dont write a pro-choice paper unless the teacher is FAIR- and many arent.


One of my earliest lessons was the question
explain the major cause of the civil war?

Well i can think of good reason for the civil war ( slavery) but true thats connected to economics ( cheap labor). but all through the course the teacher emphazied economics .... so you know what - write about economics

if you know what the teacher WANTS
it doesnt matter if its right or wrong
put that down. and next year- if a teacher says the opposite, put that down

most teachers i know are control freaks- no arguing- dont question them ( the good ones LIKE that- because it shows you are learning!) but most dont- so dont try

I think it's a combination of both. I study hard sometimes, but I also slack off a lot of the time. I average out around an A/B in most of my classes without a lot of hard work.

Unless you're one of the few really, really, smart people, studying/working hard is required for the 4.0.

As said before, the best way to study isn't necessarly just memorizing for hours. I've found in math that if I take my own notes from the book, I will understand the subject at hand much better than if I just copied lecture notes. I can usually reverse engineer any of the odd problems I have trouble with to understand the concept.

Studying trends/methods is a great way to improve in math/history. Two weeks prior to taking the AP Chemistry test, I unplugged my computer and had my parents hide the cord so I would get some studying done (although I sorta replaced it with tv~). I found that if I sat down and really analyzed step by step how to do things and work it out myself, it retains much better. Develop a system for problems and make sure to get the basics down.

History is a breeze for me. Except for the first month, I pretty much never read our history book in my AP U.S. history class. I still managed to get an A all three trimesters though. It's probably mostly due to being able to memorize historical facts well, but I think it also has a lot to do with just the way I approach history. Look at everything from a prespective of themes/trends, then you will be able to guess what is going on in a specific time period even if you don't know what happened.

English is my most difficult subject. I really think that there is only one thing that will really improve english writing and comprehension skills -- read, read, read, and read more. Go up to the people who got As on their essays, ask them when they started the essay and how much time they spent on it, and then ask them how often they read/read as a child. If anybody says they just wrote the essay the night before it was due they probably read very often. Unfortunately, I can count the amount of books I've read outside of classes in the past few years with both my hands -- and I'm usuaslly too lazy to make drafts for my essays.

I think that intelligence and grade achievement are two different things as other people have mentioned. However, there is a positive correlation between the two variables. IQ tests scores are the single best predictor of academic achievement in elementary school. By definition, individuals with high IQ scores are better problem solvers than those with lower IQs. Also, the rate of learning for individuals with higher IQs is much faster than those with lower IQs. I think the ability to get good grades in high school and college is a complex phenomenon that encompasses many variables such as academic motivation, locus of control, attention span, motivation, academic engagement, Intelligence, and test taking skills.
Another interesting factor is the arbitrary nature of the grading system. Each professor, class, school ect. has different sets of expectations. An "A" in an easy class may not equal an "A" in a hard class. Likewise, an "A" for one teacher may be different from another teacher.

Lpj8

Or being at the receiving end of an Asian parent's whip... it does the trick quite nicely.

In the end, no matter how intelligent you are it still comes down to wether or not you enjoy what you are doing. If you can get on a roll and get your head into the problem, for me at the moment that means physics, maths or engineering mechanics, then things will flow and you will learn better.

If you are constantly stop-start and never really get the big picture of how o do what you need to do you won't do as well as you possibly can.

I do, however, challenge anyone to come up with a method for solving 2nd order differential equations on the spot from first principles in a 90 min exam and still get over 50%.

I think if you take two people with basically the same intelligence and have them take a test it is possible for one student to do excellent and the other to do poorly. I think the bottomline is that some people are excellent at taking tests and other ways teachers and proffesors attempt to test the knowledge of thier students.

having just flunked a major test, i hope those posts in favour of hard workers are true. i used to rely on intuitive learning, until it came to this maths topic where intuition just goes out the window. if you realise, after going through sufficient pain trying to make logical sense out of abstract maths, intuitive comes from having prerequisite knowledge, which can be best accumulated via whipping by parents, late nights, mnemonics blah blah. it's a pain, working hard, but bottom line is, even intuition has to have a basis from which we can apply

Great question!

I've always been smart. I do really well in aptitude and intelligence tests so am seen to be pretty intelligent.
Problem is I've never been able to knuckle down to do serious study, so my grades have always been absolute crap. I used to REALLY try, but any distraction and I'd be off.

Luckily, employers dont seem to care about grades as much as they used to (certainly not in Europe anyway) - experience seems to be a much more valuable commodity, so it has never held me back that much :D

Ah... ye olde Grind v. Natural debate.

Grind:
You can certainly grind away at it. Study, study, study. Enough will eventually get crammed in there by sheer force of repetition. The only pitfall of this is that you must avoid rote memorization of a disorganized assortment of facts. Keep everything connected and ordered, or you'll just forget it.
Studying backwards. Most lesson plans work by building on previous material. This makes it easier to learn each individual block without overwhelming the student. Studying it starting with the final "big picture" and work to starting principles- this allows you to put each individual lesson into context.

Natural:
It's basically a matter of the skills everyone uses to know all the lyrics of their favorite songs, or recall a nearly encyclopedic collection of sports statistics, or obsess about every trivial detail of TV characters' lives. Pretend calculus is the coolest thing you've ever heard, history is endlessly fascinating, and organic chemistry is truly useful in day to day life.
Learn to route all this boring school crap through the high priority brain wiring devoted to the things you find interesting. Do it long enough and you actually will find the boring school crap interesting... or at least you'll honestly think you do while you're in the class.

I believe that as stated above, it is a combo of everything. If you enjoy it, and it comes easy to you, then one learns that subject matter a LOT faster than something that really takes time for that person to learn. I feel that I have gotten to the level in my ecucation where I am now at the stage that I just have to work super hard to be average. High school was easy, col. was harder, but graduate school is tough. I am actually just average now, and work my tail off. It matters the level of those around you. It used to be easy to not work, and do well. Not so much any more...

cheers

I haven't read through all the comments, so you'll have to forgive me if I've repeated anything, but I thought I'd give my view before reading too many replies. As you may notice as you read this, I have little respect for the American highschool system.

I was a mostly-A student in Highschool, but I barely studied. Because of honors courses, my weighted GPA was 4.5 or something like that, unweighted it was 3.9 or so. I'm the guy you hate because I did better on the test even though you studied 10x as much as me. Right now I'm in college (UC San Diego, third year CS major), and I just had three miderms that I barely studied for (one of them I only looked at my notes long enough to make the sheet of equations that was allowed, one I looked over my notes for maybe 30 minutes, and the other I didn't study at all)... I believe I did very well on them, and probably better than many of the students who studied. Are you pissed at me yet?

What's my secret? I don't really have one. However, I will try and gives some insight into A students, as I hang out with many of them.

There are definately multiple kinds of A students. I'll list three of them, though I'm sure there's more... these apply almost exclusively to highschool, as I believe college does a much better job at educating than highschool did.

1) "The sellout" - the student who truly believes that the system works, and so they work with the system. He does the homework because he thinks it's actually necessary, he studies religiously for tests, etc.

2) "The hard worker" - the student who may not have the natural talent for the subject, but wants so desperately to succeed that he manages to eek out an A anyway. This student studies until it hurts, doesn't get sleep, and goes in for extra help. This student many times starts depending on the teacher and other A students to spoon-feed the information to them at an excrutiatingly slow pace. He gets As because he holds the rest of the class back, and makes the teacher go slow enough that he is able to get an A.

3) "The Above-It-All" - This student is probably generally intelligent, a very fast learner, and most definately lazy when it comes to school work. I think I relate most to this kind of student. He does just enough to get an A - he knows exactly what his limits are. He does all the work, but does the bare minimum, and most certaintly does it at the very last minute where he knows he can still finish it. He mostly teaches himself the content, as the teacher goes way too slowly trying to appease the A students that fit category #2 - the ones who need it spoonfed. He does not put a priority to the education the school gives him, and instead educates himself on what he finds interesting and relevent. He is in control of his own education, which keeps him interested, and has a birds-eye view of the system and knows how to beat it and knows what the teachers want. Often, he'll teach himself the material while taking the test. Note that he does very well in the math and science classes, but doesn't do as well in English/Literature/History classes that require reading and memorization. Depending on the value he puts on the "A", he may or may not actually work hard in the classes that require memorization.

Now, to the original poster, here's something I have to say to you. You get Bs. Whoop-de-doo. First of all, if colleges didn't put so much damn importance on grades, I'd tell you that As weren't worth it. However, they do, and college is incredibly important if you want a real education, so I'm going to give you some advice for As. Wake up and smell the coffee! Highschool is slooooowwwww. They spoonfeed you everything - you just have to accept it. If you just relaxed and realized this, then maybe you'd be able to retain the content better. Most B students would be A students if they knew how to take a test. Most of them simply freak out before, during and after it, get stressed, study way too much, and by doing so end up hurting themselves.

That's my advice. Take it or leave it. If you want to just call me an asshole and listen to the people who say "repetition, repetition, repetition" be my guest. I say you're just hurting yourself if you spend 3 hours studying something where you just have to plug constants into an equation.

Lots of good advice in posts, I'll probably end up reiterating a lot of them.

I feel that it's not really about skill, but about, for lack of a better word, dedication.

My perspective is that talent is your starting point with a particular skill. Some people are gifted at drawing, some people have an affinity for numbers, while others remember historical stats without breaking a sweat. Dedication takes you beyond your initial starting point. The willingness to invest the time to excel at that particular skill.

The short answer is: self-induced repetition. For classes you enjoy, that'll be a snap. You're probably doing it already. For classes that you hate, you'll have to make it fun for yourself to stomach it. In that regard, that's why homework is useful. It's a form of repetition that exposes you to the concepts you're trying to learn. And you do it a million times until you get it or you're sick of it. It's like playing a video game and you're stuck on a level. You'll end up going through the level a bunch of times until you finally get the way you're supposed to approach it and then it's a snap. That knowledge then serves you later on harder levels.

A few more things learning related. The average person needs to take in information 3 ways before it sticks. So for difficult subjects, trying reading it out loud, writing it down, and careful listening. During a lecture though, scribbling down notes at a breakneck speed usually preempts any useful listening and cognizance of what you're actually writing down.

Like was stated in an earlier post, a learning style inventory is also useful. For me, I'm extremely visual and technical. Knowing that helped me pick out a major and also clued me onto the best way to get info into my thick skull.

Best of luck. Feel free to PM me if you've got more questions.

In math, if you don't quite grasp it, you get a C. If you have a good understanding, but no attention to detail, you get a B. It's the silly errors that cost you an A.

In math and physics, I find it useful to practice questions on as many different types of questions as possible. There are only so many types examiners can throw at you.

For English/history etc, I memorize a bunch of quotes and facts so that whatever type of questions come up, I'll at least have some sort of evidence to support my arguments.

This coming from a huge procrastinator who just finished 3/4 of her exam, do not go anywhere *near* the computer/TV/whatever else interests you. And don't start a new obsession two days before your study leave.

Skill vs. Gift?

I find people who have a gift in that subject already to be able to put in a lot more effort into it. I think it's because it's relatively easy to them so they understand it, so they find the homework etc doesn't need to take 2 hours and ending up with a massive headache.

I think people who get good marks despite lacking the gift for it to be incredible. I can't even imagine sitting there everyday studying for 5 hours.
I think it's a skill in that you need to figure out what the question is asking you, instead of *thinking* what the question is asking you. With physics, a lot of the word problems have a basis in equations, so that helps a lot, especially if you're stuck, I try to link equations together, and sometimes they turn out right...

(sorry if this post was incoherent. It's late and I'm tired...)

fallsauce brings up an interesting point.

It's possible to pass tests without studying anything provided you are familiar with the types of questions that will appear. You can know no more about the subject than what you overheard in the handful of lectures you didn't skip or sleep through entirely and the information presented on the test itself by way of asking questions... and still pass- no detailed knowledge required.

Whether this is a good idea in the long run is debatable... but learning how to take tests is more generally useful than what you'll learn in certain classes.