How to Win at College

Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country’s Top Students

0767914880
Cal Newport

Table of Contents

  1. Don’t Do All of Your Reading
  2. Create a Sunday Ritual
  3. Drop Classes Every Semester
  4. Start Long Term Projects the Day They Are Assigned
  5. Make Your Bed
  6. Apply to 10 Scholarships a year
  7. Build Study Systems
  8. Befriend a Professor
  9. Become a Club President
  10. Read a Newspaper Everyday
  11. Do One Thing Better Than Anyone Else You Know
  12. Avoid Daily To-Do Lists
  13. Learn to Give Up
  14. Never Nap
  15. Sign Up for Something Your First Week
  16. Always Be Working on a “Grand Project”
  17. Take Art History and Astronomy
  18. Blow the Curve Once a Term
  19. Ask One Question at Every Lecture
  20. Jump into research as early as possible
  21. Pay Your Dues
  22. Study in Fifty-Minute Chunks
  23. Schedule Your Free Time
  24. Dress Nicely for Class
  25. Decorate Your Room
  26. Start Studying Two Weeks In Advance
  27. Write Outside of Class
  28. Eat Alone Twice a Day
  29. Find an Escape
  30. Take Hard Courses Early On
  31. Don’t Study In Your Room
  32. Don’t Study in Groups
  33. Join an Honors Program
  34. Do Schoolwork Everyday
  35. Attend Guest Lectures
  36. Exercise Five Days a Week
  37. Stay In Touch
  38. Tack on an Extra Major or Minor
  39. Meet Often With Your Advisor
  40. Don’t Get a Normal Job
  41. Use Three Days to Write a Paper
  42. Don’t Undersleep, Don’t Oversleep
  43. Relax Before Exams
  44. Make Friends Your #1 Priority
  45. Don’t Binge Drink
  46. Ignore Your Classmates Grades
  47. Seek Out Phenomenal Achievers
  48. Learn to Listen
  49. Never Pull an All-Nighter
  50. Laugh Every Day
  51. Use High-Quality Notebooks
  52. Keep A Work Progress Journal
  53. Seek Out Fun
  54. Inflate Your Ambition
  55. Get Involved with Your Major Department
  56. Care About Your Grades, Ignore Your G.P.A
  57. Always Go to Class
  58. Set Arbitrary Deadlines
  59. Eat Healthy
  60. Volunteer Quietly
  61. Write as if Going for a Pulitzer
  62. Attend Political Rallies
  63. Maximize Your Summers
  64. Choose Goals, Explore Routes
  65. Don’t Take Breaks Between Classes
  66. Don’t Network
  67. Publish Op-Eds
  68. Use a Filing Cabinet
  69. Find a Secret Study Space
  70. Study with the Quiz-and-Recall Method
  71. Empty Your In-Box
  72. Relax Before Sleep
  73. Start Fast, End Slow
  74. Study Abroad
  75. “Don’t Have No Regrets”

Notes

The secret is to read chapter introductions and conclusions carefully, and then skim everything else.

…every semester you should choose one class that you like, and within that class choose one interesting project, and then knock it out of the ballpark.

Spending time with phenomenal achievers is one of the most effective ways to expand the scope of your ambitions.

…she didn’t care about getting a bad grade. Her concern was with understanding the material.

Write an Op-Ed piece once every semester.

The key to making the most out of your secret study space is to use it sparingly…use it only for major assignments, midterms, finals, and truly daunting papers.