Part of the problem that I, and many of my friends, had was that in high school everything came easy. “Studying” was done the night before a test for maybe 30 minutes, and we would walk away with either a high B or a low A. College was a wake-up call for us, as I’m sure it is for many other students.

Not only is there more of a challenge in college than high school, but there’s also the fact that there is more information easily accessible with a few clicks of a button now than in Shakespeare’s time. When we are flooded with so much information, not only is it difficult to study in general, but there are added problems of how to figure out what’s good information, what’s important, finding the time to read it, and then trying to remember what’s been read. It can be a bit like trying to drink from a firehose.

Dr. Sandra Gibson has spent over 25 years at Georgia State University learning what works and what’s important in her book Making A’s in College: What Top College Students Know About Getting Straight A’s. She teaches strategies that have your brain actually work and you’ll be actively learning, instead of daydreaming (or watching The Witcher when you should be doing homework). Gibson’s book is divided into four parts that will offer support skills and academic skills. Students will quickly discover how to improve memory, take great notes in class, build really strong concentration, read better and remember more, along with more skills to earn that A you’ve always wanted.