As Cal Newport discovered the hard way during his first year at Dartmouth, straight As are not achieved through all-night study sessions. Rather, most straight-A students study fewer hours than their peers and still get top-tier results because they employ unconventional strategies that streamline their study time. Based on Newport’s experiences and those of the exceptional students he interviewed across America, How to Become aStraight-A Student is the first comprehensive study guide, written by students for students, that shows you how to master the college academic system and score high while studying less.

An accessible guide that provides a detailed prescriptive study system for tackling college-level quizzes, exams, essays, and papers, How to Become a Straight-A Student is the roadmap to how to study smarter. In Part 1, Newport helps students analyze their study skills and imparts strategies for time management and ending procrastination. Part 2 reveals the secret weapons straight-A students use to dominate exams, ranging from how to improve alertness to how to absorb the material effectively in as little time as possible. In the last section, students learn to “hunt the elusive question,” “craft a powerful story,” and six other indispensable steps to writing essays and papers better and faster than ever before. Case studies on how students customized these approaches to their own temperaments round out the book. A perfect gift for the college-bound freshman, or for a student looking to freshen-up their skills, How to Become a Straight-A Student is the only study guide written with wisdom from the trenches in a hip, fresh style.

Looking to jumpstart your GPA? Most college students believe that straight A’s can be achieved only through cramming and painful all-nighters at the library. But Cal Newport knows that real straight-A students don’t study harder—they study smarter. A breakthrough approach to acing academic assignments, from quizzes and exams to essays and papers, How to Become a Straight-A Student reveals for the first time the proven study secrets of real straight-A students across the country and weaves them into a simple, practical system that anyone can master. You will learn how to:

Streamline and maximize your study time

Conquer procrastination

Absorb the material quickly and effectively

Know which reading assignments are critical—and which are not

Target the paper topics that wow professors

Provide A+ answers on exams

Write stellar prose without the agony

A strategic blueprint for success that promises more free time, more fun, and top-tier results, How to Become a Straight-A Student is the only study guide written by students for students—with the insider knowledge and real-world methods to help you master the college system and rise to the top of the class.

A Phi Beta Kappa Ivy League graduate shares the unconventional three-part system he and other straight-A students across the country have used to maximize results and minimize study time.

Cal Newport graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth in 2004, where, using the strategies outlined in this book, he earned thirty-six straight A’s in a row. Also the author of How to Win at College, he is studying for his Ph.D. in computer science at MIT.