How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country's Top Students

it's not productive to spend time on problems that you will never fully understand without outside help.

In short, you cannot let a busy schedule come between you and your friendships.

But here is the secret to being a good listener: Never be the first person to give an opinion. If you are in a group or talking with a professor, and a topic worthy of discussion comes up, you gain nothing by jumping right in and providing what seems to you to be the obviously correct opinion.

Bad courses, with incompatible professors and unreasonable requirements, are the key to developing an ulcer. You must avoid bad courses at all costs. They will make you unhappy, they will upset your academic momentum, they will sap your will to achieve, and they will hurt your grades.

There are two types of papers assigned at college: long ones and short ones. Long papers are typically of the research variety. They require quite a bit of time to complete because you have to track down sources, generate original theses, and master complicated new ideas.

No more than half of your scheduled courses should include the word intro in the title (and absolutely none should include the phrase for fun and profit).

Why bother dressing nicely for class? Two reasons. One, it makes you feel better about yourself. If you look good, you can imagine that cute guy or dimpled girl in the front row shooting some glances in your direction. This will make you happy. And when you are happy, you have more energy and pay attention better in class. Two, it makes the day off

maintain a healthy sense of perspective

If you are working on a computer science programming assignment, schedule yourself to finish a week early so you can add a host of extra bells and whistles. If you have a big economics exam coming up, double the amount of time you normally study and aim for a near-perfect score.