Getting Straight A's

Rating:
Summary: Straight to the Point
Review: .
This book gets straight to the point, showing you specifically
how to earn top scores at the high school and college levels.
Another book that is equally good is one called
SURVEY OF 300 A+ STUDENTS by a fellow named Kenneth Green,
at Harvard University.

These two books will get you on the Dean's list.

.

Rating:
Summary: Great grades from a great book
Review: Dr. Gordon Green's books, "Getting Straight A's" and "How to Get Straight A's ... And Have Fun at the Same Time" are books that can and do change students' lives. I know this as fact since these two books changed my life. Before I go into detail about this, the main thing you need to know is that if you are looking for help for a struggling student or if you are a struggling student yourself, buy both of these books. They will help!

As I mentioned, Dr Gordon Green's books changed my life. The first major impact was when I was in college at Northeastern University in 1987. As a C student with an 870 on my SAT, I struggled my first semester in college. It was not because I lacked the desire to learn or that I was lazy, in fact, I did all the things I thought a good student should do. I read the textbooks, went to classes, took notes and studied for tests. However, by the end of the first semester, I received a 1.5 GPA.

It was just after receiving these grades that I read Dr. Green's book, "Getting Straight A's". This book taught me the core study skills that I was never taught, such as how to read a textbook and how to take notes. But this book also taught me how to set goals, which is a skill that I use everyday of my life. By reading this book, I was able to totally turn my grades around. I was able to graduate with a 3.0 GPA and only received one C after my first semester, all my other grades being A's and B's. Not only did I achieve academic success in college but I also gained the confidence and self-conviction to know that I can overcome any challenge.

When I started my MBA at Northeastern University in 2003, I re-read "Getting Straight A's". This book proved to be a timeless learning aid since I've been able to maintain a 3.78 GPA all the while working full time. The key to my success was in using all of the techniques I learned in Dr. Green's book. When I first started my MBA, I contacted Dr. Green and, when I spoke with him, I told him how much his book had changed my life. He told me that many people have written to him and told him the same thing. I found him to be an extremely pleasant person and I feel my life is enriched for having contacted Dr. Green.

Here is the other way Dr. Green's book affected my life. While working on my MBA at Northeastern University, I was asked by the Crew Coach to speak with the team. I decided to speak about all the techniques that I had learned from Dr. Green's book. Prior to putting together my presentation, I contacted Dr. Green and he gave me permission to use his materials.

When I presented this information to the team, I could tell that the presentation was well received. Each one of the team members paid attention and, the following day, some of them wrote me notes to say thank you. It was a life-changing experience for me because after 12 years of working in High Technology Sales, I now realized that what I really wanted to do with my life was to give presentations that taught struggling students how to become great students. About one year after this initial presentation, I started a company called Great Grades "Strategies"; our website is www.GPAgrowth.com. We are focused on helping student athletes become more competitive in the classroom and we're currently working with athletic departments such as Merrimack College, Northeastern University, Plymouth State University and Tufts University.

We have also expanded Great Grades "Strategies" to assist high school students. For this program, we are leveraging Dr. Green's other book, "How to Get Straight A's ... And Still Have Fun". In these one-on-one workshops, we help individual high school students achieve success in the classroom.

Dr Green's two books changed my life and I believe they can do the same for you. I am forever thankful to Dr. Green for authoring these publications because I could have never succeeded in College or my MBA program without them. If you have any questions about these books, please don't hesitate to write me at [e-mail].

Rating:
Summary: Useless
Review: Here is an honest review. Green often gives examples of people that have used "his system" (not much of a system) and there after they get near all A's. This is my second year of college. I've taken hard courses such as calculus and received A's or mid range B's. This book is absolutly useless. Anyone who is going to college, obviously knows he or she needs to do their homework and take notes to get good grades. You might think Green will give techniques in these areas. Wrong! He also says this system will reduce time spent studing. There is no system! In one part of the book he was elaborating on how his college career came to be and said "I had no free time but I did get A's." But wait.. wasn't this system suppose to give you more free time? Many wasted pages with quotes and bad chapters. Read the back cover and that is what you will get out of the book, nothing more, trust me. Spend your money on "The memory book".

Rating:
Summary: A Life Saver...
Review: I bought this book before my second semester in college. I had made decent grades my first semester but felt unconfident about studying and knew that there had to be a better way. This book was a life saver. I read it and applied the principles to my next semester and made all A's just as promised. Dr. Green's emphasis on the mastering of a subject matter gives a student confidence when taking a test and guarantees a good grade. If you want to not only excel in grades but to actually truly learn there is no better way to go than the methods in this book.

Rating:
Summary: A very useful approach
Review: I disagree with the reviewer from Denton TX. While it is true that much of the advice in this book is common sense (but rarely practiced), the real value is in his approach to notetaking. To me, that chapter alone is the heart of this book and I've found it quite amazing how much I learn when I follow his advice. It seems like more work, but it's not much more -- and it can actually be fun.

Rating:
Summary: Organization=A's,and it shows you how
Review: I found this book to be a well rounded assesment of the problems that students run into while taking courses. Beside showing you how to improve you study methods, it also show you how to read books so that you understand the full meaning of them, how to organize and write a good term paper, and how to excel at every kind of test(except for standardized and IQ tests). And what he leaves out, he tells you where to find it. This book has helped me a great deal and has renewed my confidence in my school work. Use this book if you are serious about school, because if you're not, you probable won't benefit from it.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written
Review: I have no idea if this book will help you or not, I could not get through it, Mr. Green spends most of the book quoting other people so much so that I felt he should probably give some of his royalties to all of the people he quoted. The worst offense for me was quoting JFK, which is done so often by so many.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written
Review: In general, I was never considered a very good high-school student. Many of my peers and most of my teachers judged my intelligence by my low test scores, and I had little choice but to accept the evidence and concede that I simply wasn't very bright. Although my confidence suffered with every failing grade I received, in my heart I knew that I was intelligent, but no one would have known it by looking at my report card.

It seemed that many of my teachers expected me to be successful somehow, but none of them seemed especially willing to explain what it takes to be successful in a school. I sincerely suspected that perhaps the `A' students knew something about learning that I did not. I was afraid that if I asked what the "secret" was, they would think that I was crazy, or say "Take notes and study hard." What does that mean anyway? What does it mean to "take notes", and to "study hard" as all my teachers had always told me to do?

After barely graduating from high school in 1991, I had numerous low-paying blue-collar jobs which did very little except damage my self-esteem even further. In the summer of 95', while working at the local sawmill, I decided that enough was enough... I had to go to college and try to get a degree, even if I failed while trying. I filled out the appropriate paperwork and signed up for the fall semester.

While waiting for classes to begin, I discovered this little book titled "Getting Straight A's". I flipped through and read the table of contents and was amazed at what I saw. This is what I had been missing through all of those horribly unsuccessful academic years, but had never known what I was missing! After purchasing and reading this book, I made a vow that school would be different for me this time.

Little did I know that I would be correct beyond my own imagination. Thanks to the information contained within this invaluable book, I was able to earn a 4.0 grade point average semester after semester... an accomplishment that I had previously thought to be impossible. It definitely took work, but because this book showed me where to focus my efforts I no longer labored randomly. Although there will always be those peers who are a bit jealous, most of my true college friends admired me, my instructors loved me, and for once in my life I felt that I could accomplish absolutely anything. I still feel that way today. Every day I praise the day that I discovered this book.

Rating:
Summary: Blueprint for success in school
Review: My instructor recommended this book while I attended a speed reading course. I returned to school after a few years out working dead-end jobs. In high school, my grades were C's and D's. When I returned, using this book, I scored A's and B's. I fought for my grades and could back it up because I knew the material. (More than one professor changed my grade but asked me not to tell everyone else because they would have to change all of them!) Well laid out and straight forward. It was the blueprint I needed to succeed and move up the ladder. Looking back at the dead-end, labor-intensive work I had after high school, I now work in a prestigious job with great responsibilities! I am forever in debt to Mr. Green and highly recommend his book to anyone who tells me they are returning to school.

Rating:
Summary: If you put in the effort, it will work
Review: The title says it all, it worked for me too. After reading the book and commiting to the techniques, I received an A and achieved the highest marks in the only class I was taking that semester, which was a graduate course in physics. This is something I've never done before in college.

I received A's in the two classes I was taking in the following semester, and in one, I once again scored the highest marks.

It does take a lot of work, but if you've always wondered how you should spend your time studying for a class, this book has the answers.