How to Get a GOOD GRADE in Your AP CLASSES
Summary
TLDRIn 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
📚 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.
💡 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.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡AP History Course
💡Good Grades
💡College
💡Mentally Present
💡Syllabus
💡Assignments
💡Procrastinator
💡Hard Work
💡Agency
💡Consequences
💡Choices
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
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