It's August. Dig into your courses before they start!

Like a runner springing from the starting blocks, you stand a better chance of getting good grades in your courses if you get off to a good start. Don't wait until the first day of class to find out what it's all about. If you wander the corridors the first day trying to find your classroom and having no idea who the instructor is, that's a clue you're not likely to win the race.

One thing to do is go to the bookstore and take a look at the texts for your courses. You may not want to buy them there---there are other ways to obtain your texts---but spending 15 minutes in the bookstore leafing through the texts to get an idea what they are about is a good idea. Another thing you can do is talk to students in the dorms who have taken the courses: what do they recommend to get a good grade? Also, your course may make use of a  course management system like Blackboard. See if you can access it now. If you can, you may be able to download the syllabi for your courses and perhaps other documents. Read them before the course starts. If they raise questions in your mind, ask those questions on the first day of classes.

Here's the best idea of all: a day or two before classes start, walk by the offices of your instructors. If you see any of them are there, stop in and introduce yourself. Say you're looking forward to taking the course and ask if there's anything you need to do or know. You'll really impress the instructor--hardly anyone does this--and impressing an instructor can pay off in your final course grade!  If the instructors aren't around, stop at the desk of the department secretary and find out when you might be able to see them. It doesn't hurt a bit to know the department secretaries.

Do you have any ideas to add?  If so, write a comment below. I'd like to hear them.

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