I am proud to be on the dean’s list this semester with a stellar 3.8 GPA. But, it wasn’t always that easy. When I first arrived at college, I really struggled. In fact, I almost failed my first exam. I knew that I needed help, so I sought out mentors who could help me better navigate my coursework — and in retrospect, that was perhaps the best decision I made while at the University of Central Florida. Looking back, I wanted to reflect on a few nuggets of wisdom that helped me succeed as a student.

Secrets, secrets are no fun unless they are shared with everyone. Here are a few of my favorite tips to help you ace your classes this semester.

Let’s start with a little harsh reality. The first secret to getting straight A’s: success is in the details. Okay, but what does that really mean? What that means is that you need to be willing to put in 💯 into every aspect of your school work. This means always writing in complete sentences, always checking over your work at the end of a test, and always reading the graphs that most people would skip over in your textbook.

There are people who spend an hour crafting the perfect sentence for a literature class, and 2 hours picking out the perfect font for their PowerPoint presentation. And maybe that’s a little crazy, but that’s why you have to put in 100%, because the kind of people who put in that kind of effort are the ones that you are competing against if you want an A.

But, if you want that easy A, this is the trick for you. The Halo effect is basically: if you can convince your professors within the first week of school that you are a nice and hard working angel, then they are more likely to think of you as a student who is giving it their all. This means they will be more likely to give you better grades and be more lenient with you in the future.

Unlike most tips, this is actual psychology. Professors want to see you put in the effort, and when you fail or reach lows, they want you to talk with them. A professor’s job is much more than lecturing, and for you to reach the Halo, you must take advantage of all that they can offer you.

The Show-up and Shut-up approach is pretty basic. All you need to do is just show up every day—meaning—every single day. And instead of talking with your friends during lecture, shut-up and listen to the professor.

Pro-tip: Ask questions often. Asking questions will help you understand the material better. Secondly, it will make the professor think you are super engaged in your learning. #HaloEffect

Active participation is half the battle. The other half is doing every homework assignment. That doesn’t mean just the graded assignments, but everything, including your reading assignments or anything else your professor assigns.

This advice might be more basic than wearing Uggs in the summertime. But, seriously, if you do it, you will be ahead of the curve. Most students don’t want to give the time or energy to accomplish the same results. And that’s cool, because that’s not their priority.

— Suki