How to Get a GOOD GRADE in Your AP CLASSES

Summary

In this video, Heimlich shares crucial advice for achieving good grades in AP history courses and beyond. The key to success, he explains, is to attend classes and diligently follow the assignments given by teachers. Drawing from personal experience, he emphasizes the importance of being mentally present in class and completing tasks as outlined in the syllabus. Heimlich also discusses balancing academic responsibilities with personal interests, encouraging students to make deliberate choices and accept the consequences. Ultimately, he underscores the value of hard work and personal agency in earning grades.

Takeaways

• 🎓 The speaker emphasizes the importance of attending class and being mentally present to succeed in school.
• 📚 Following the syllabus and completing all assignments as instructed by the teacher is key to getting good grades.
• 🤔 The advice given by the speaker's father-in-law was to simply 'go to class and do what they tell you to do', which changed his approach to schoolwork.
• 🔑 There is no shortcut or 'hack' to make hard work easier; good grades require effort and dedication.
• 💡 The speaker suggests that the search for easy ways to get good grades might be misguided, as hard work is an inherent part of the process.
• 🧐 The speaker acknowledges that being a student is not the only aspect of life, and other interests and passions should also be considered.
• 🏆 The speaker admits to not always prioritizing grades, and that sometimes personal choices lead to lower grades but richer life experiences.
• 🤝 The speaker's realization that grades are earned by students, not given by teachers, was a significant shift in perspective.
• 💼 The speaker's GPA was not perfect, but he was satisfied with his choices and the grades he received as a result.
• 🚀 Embracing the consequences of one's choices, whether they lead to high grades or not, is an important part of personal growth.
• 🌟 The video concludes with a reminder to take the advice seriously, as it can lead to success in AP classes and potentially a high score on the AP exam.

Q & A

What is the main advice given by the speaker's father-in-law for achieving good grades in college?

The main advice is to go to class and do what the professors tell you to do.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of being mentally present in class?

The speaker emphasizes mental presence because there are many distractions that can divert attention away from the class material, even if physically present.

What does the speaker mean by 'doing what they tell you to do'?

It refers to following the syllabus and completing all the assignments, readings, and projects as outlined by the teacher to succeed in the course.

How does the speaker describe their experience with procrastination?

The speaker describes themselves as a natural procrastinator, with a 'lazy monkey' at the helm of their brain that only acts when a deadline is near.

What was the result of the speaker following the advice given to them in college?

The speaker achieved decent grades by following the advice and disciplining themselves to complete assignments on time.

Why does the speaker argue that there is no hack to make hard work easier?

The speaker argues that hard work is inherently difficult and the only way to achieve good grades is by putting in the effort required.

What does the speaker suggest about the balance between schoolwork and other life interests?

The speaker suggests that while schoolwork is important, it's also crucial to balance it with other interests and passions outside of school.

How did the speaker's perspective on grades change after college?

The speaker realized that grades are earned by students based on their effort, and teachers do not owe them good grades regardless of the circumstances.

What was the speaker's GPA in college and how did they feel about it?

The speaker had a 3.3 GPA in college and they were satisfied with it, understanding that they made choices that affected their grades.

What is the speaker's final advice regarding the pursuit of good grades?

The speaker advises to go to class and do what the teacher asks, but also to recognize that there may be times when other aspects of life are more important, and to embrace the consequences of those choices.

Outlines

00:00

📚 College Success Through Attendance and Compliance

In this paragraph, the speaker shares advice received from his father-in-law that significantly improved his academic performance in college. The advice is straightforward: attend class and follow the instructions given by the professors. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being mentally present in class and diligently completing all assignments as outlined in the syllabus. He admits to being a procrastinator but managed to discipline himself to adhere to this advice, which resulted in better grades. The speaker also addresses the potential concern that following this advice might seem too simplistic, suggesting that there is no shortcut to achieving good grades without hard work.

05:02

💡 Embracing the Reality of Earning Grades and Prioritizing Life Experiences

The second paragraph delves into the speaker's realization that grades are earned, not given, and that teachers do not owe students good grades without the corresponding effort. This understanding was liberating for the speaker, as it placed the responsibility and agency for academic success squarely on the student. He encourages students to follow the advice of attending class and doing what is asked if they want good grades. However, he also acknowledges that there may be times when other life experiences are more important than academic performance, and it's okay to make choices that reflect those priorities. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about choosing to travel with his wife over working on a term paper, accepting the lower grade that resulted from that decision. He concludes by reiterating the advice to attend class and do what is asked, while also recognizing that students may have different priorities at different stages of life.

Keywords

💡AP History Course

AP History Course refers to an Advanced Placement history class, which is a rigorous college-level curriculum that high school students can take to earn college credit. In the video, the speaker aims to provide advice on how to achieve a good grade in such a course, emphasizing the importance of following the course structure and requirements to potentially earn a high score on the AP exam in May.

💡Good Grades

Good grades are high marks or scores that students receive in their academic work, reflecting a strong understanding and performance. The video's central theme revolves around achieving good grades, with the speaker sharing advice that led to an improvement in their own academic performance and suggesting that attending class and following instructions are key to this goal.

💡College

College typically refers to an institution of higher learning that grants degrees. In the script, the speaker contrasts their high school experience with their college experience, noting the lack of attendance enforcement in college but still advocating for the importance of attending classes and being mentally present.

💡Mentally Present

Being mentally present means fully focusing and engaging with what is happening around you, rather than being physically present but distracted. The speaker uses this term to emphasize the importance of not just attending class physically but also being attentive and engaged in the learning process.

💡Syllabus

A syllabus is a document provided by a teacher at the beginning of a course, outlining the course objectives, assignments, and expectations. The speaker highlights the syllabus as a guide that students should follow to understand what is required of them to succeed in the class.

💡Assignments

Assignments are tasks given by teachers to students, which may include readings, writings, group activities, and projects. The video script mentions assignments as part of the course work that students must complete to accumulate knowledge and skills, and ultimately, to earn good grades.

💡Procrastinator

A procrastinator is someone who delays or postpones tasks, often until the deadline is near. The speaker identifies themselves as a procrastinator and discusses how they disciplined themselves in college to follow the advice of completing assignments on time, which contributed to better grades.

💡Hard Work

Hard work refers to the effort and dedication put into tasks or goals, often requiring time and energy. The video emphasizes that there is no shortcut to achieving good grades; it requires hard work and commitment to completing the course requirements as outlined by the teacher.

💡Agency

Agency refers to the capacity of an individual to act independently and make their own free choices. The speaker encourages students to take agency over their grades, acknowledging that teachers do not give grades but rather students earn them through their efforts and choices.

💡Consequences

Consequences are the results or effects of an action or decision. The video script discusses embracing the consequences of one's choices, such as accepting lower grades if one chooses to prioritize other interests over completing all course assignments.

💡Choices

Choices are decisions made between two or more alternatives. The speaker reflects on the importance of recognizing that there are times when other life experiences or interests may be more important than achieving the highest grades, and making choices that reflect one's priorities.

Highlights

The speaker shares advice received upon entering college that changed their approach to schoolwork and helped improve their grades.

Being the first in the family to attend college, the speaker lacked guidance and initially struggled with achieving good grades.

The father-in-law's advice to 'go to class and do what they tell you to do' is presented as the key to achieving good grades.

The importance of being mentally present in class is emphasized over just being physically present.

Teachers provide syllabi that outline the assignments and expectations for success in the course.

The speaker's personal struggle with procrastination and the discipline required to follow through with assignments.

The realization that following the course syllabus and completing assignments as instructed leads to good grades.

The speaker challenges the notion that there is an easy hack to achieve good grades, emphasizing the necessity of hard work.

The acknowledgment of the complexity of being a student, with interests and passions outside of school.

The speaker's own college experience and the realization that there were more important things than grades.

The story of choosing to go on a trip with the speaker's wife over working on a term paper, and the resulting grade of C.

The understanding that grades are earned by students through their efforts and choices, not given by teachers.

The empowerment that comes from taking responsibility for one's own grades and the work required to achieve them.

The speaker's reflection on the value of experiences over GPA, and the lack of regret for not graduating with honors.

The final advice to students to attend class and follow through with teacher's instructions for success in their AP courses.

Transcripts

well hey there and welcome back to

heimlich's history in this video i'm

going to explain to you the surest path

to getting a good grade in your ap

history course and perhaps even a five

on your exam in may so let's get to it

i'm going to give you a piece of advice

that i received upon entering college

that ultimately changed how i approached

school work and helped me to get good

grades well yeah i mean better grades

than i got in high school

it's important to know that i was the

first and only person in my nuclear

family to go to college so

i didn't have much guidance on how to

succeed like in high school i

barely eked out a b average i probably

deserve to see but

you know when i got to college i wanted

to do better but i didn't know how to do

better and then my father-in-law gave me

the piece of advice that literally

changed everything to me and i promise

you if you follow this advice like i did

you will get a good grade in your ap

classes and maybe even a five on your

examined me and he said this

if you want to get good grades it's very

simple you only have to do two things

go to class and do what they tell you to

do now before you click away i need to

explain because i know that can sound

too simplistic and stick around to the

end because i want to try to explain a

new perspective

on schooling that might help you feel

better about not getting good grades so

go to class

do what they tell you to do let's take

this one at a time first go to class now

in college it's a little different

because i don't recall any of my

professors ever taking role and if i

didn't go to class i didn't have to

answer to anyone but in high school

you're a little more bound to go to

class whether you want to or not like we

have compulsory education laws but even

so the advice remains the same

go to class in high school it probably

has more to do with being mentally

present than physically present like

you're probably all going to be

physically present but there are a

hundred distractions that can bring your

attention away from what's going on

there like it's possible to be in a

place without actually being in a place

you know what i mean

so that's the easiest thing go to class

and be present mentally while you're

there

second do what they tell you to do when

you show up on the first day of class

your teacher is going to give you a

syllabus that outlines all the

assignments you're going to be

responsible for in the coming semester

or year and there will be reading there

will be writing there will be group

activities there will be projects and

any teacher worth his or her salt will

tell you

exactly what you need to do in order to

succeed on that assignment and your job

is just to

do it now i'm a procrastinator by nature

like there's a lazy monkey at the helm

of my brain chip that only comes to life

when the pressure of a deadline is on so

it would have been very easy for me to

see all the assignments given to me and

wait till the last minute to do them but

for whatever reason when i got to

college

i disciplined myself to follow this

advice and so if the syllabus said

repages 150 to 200 on wednesday

that's what i did if the assignment was

to complete a chart comparing such and

such a thing that's what i did and

wouldn't you believe it

i actually got pretty decent grades as a

result why

because your teacher has worked very

hard to design a course that if you

follow it step by step

and do the work to accumulate the

knowledge and the skills presented

a good grade it's almost automatic okay

now

hold on just a second like how does that

sound to you does that sound too

simplistic

if that's the case i would argue that it

only sounds that way because we're on

the constant search for ways to make

hard work

easy let me go ahead and tell you now

there is no hack to make hard work

easier if you want good grades and a

hard course you have to work for it

that is the only path i promise you like

if you start trying to game the system

then you'll get six weeks into the

curriculum and realize that your bad

grades are a rep

now i'm not saying anything you don't

know this this advice is self-evident so

why don't people just do it well it's

because we're human beings and we're

more than just

students there are some people for whom

being a student is their primary

interest

like they love the pursuit of knowledge

and they would do it with or without

school but i'd wager that the majority

of students in our high schools today

are not that way like you go to school

because the law compels you to and your

main interests and passions lay outside

of those walls and so to go to class and

do what they tell you to do

would take up so many hours of your life

so as to completely reduce your passions

and pursuits outside of school

to ruin yeah if you did everything your

teachers told you to do you probably get

good grades but you would do nothing

else so here's where i try to give you a

different perspective

on that reality like i said that i

followed my father-in-law's advice and i

did

all the way through college and graduate

school but i graduated college with a

3.3 gpa and a little higher in grad

school that's not great like you might

conclude that the advice didn't work or

that i didn't follow it but that's not

the whole truth the whole truth is that

i came to recognize that there were some

more important things to me than good

grades in college i specifically

remember in grad school having a term

paper due at the end of the semester and

i should have spent the week leading up

to it working on the paper around the

clock but

i had this unexpected opportunity to go

on a little trip with my wife that week

and as i weighed the opposing

opportunities in the balance

i decided that it was more important for

me to take the trip and spend some

much-needed time with my wife so i came

back i stayed up really late i finished

the paper and i sent it to my professor

with the following email i told him

like i know this isn't great work i just

need you to know that i know but this is

what i have and i'd be surprised if i

got anything better than a c

and you know what that professor did he

gave me a c

on the paper you know why because it was

a c paper and you know what

i was satisfied with that c because i

chose it like i went out of town

i didn't put in the hard work necessary

to get an a that's why i didn't graduate

magna laude or even with honors from

either institution like

i made choices about what was important

to me and

this is very important i embraced the

consequences of those choices

i came to realize that teachers don't

give grades

students earn grades no teacher owed me

a good grade if i didn't put in the work

and certainly no teacher owed me a good

grade if i cut corners and did less than

what they asked of me and that was a

very

liberating truth to me so i hope that

puts some agency in your hands like you

are responsible for your good grade and

what you have to do to get that good

grade is all laid out for you if you

want to do well then go to class and do

what your teacher asks you to do and if

you find that there are things that are

more important to you and you choose to

not do portions of what your teachers

ask of you

then enjoy whatever it is that you were

doing and embrace the lower grades that

come as a result i've never regretted

not graduating with a higher gpa like

the experiences i had were worth the

cost

of course i was in college and grad

school i didn't have my parents to

answer to like you do at your stage of

life but you know what

still good advice okay that's it i hope

you were in some way helped by this

video you might want to go ahead and

subscribe if you're in ap world or ap

us history or ap government because

there are a lot of videos to come this

year so

go to class do what they tell you to do

heimler out