Don't Do the Readings - College Students, Get Better Grades the Easy Way

It May Sound Surprising, but You Might Be Better Off Not Bothering with Assigned Readings

College students, I suggest that you don’t do most of the assigned readings.

Syllabi are very intimidating. Generally they span pages and pages, listing numerous readings and assignments. I don’t believe that it is humanely possible to do all the readings for some of these classes. Some people try in the beginning, but then burn themselves out towards the end of the class (if they make it that far). 

One of my favorite professors was a visiting professor, meaning he worked at another (smaller, less prestigious) university. This professor told me, “The University of Michigan professors advised me to make a long syllabus that assigned lots of readings. They said this would intimidate the students and make them work harder.” He also told me that we wouldn’t cover many of the things on the syllabus, and that he’d delete readings from the syllabus throughout the year.

My point here is that professors will put a lot of long, difficult readings into your syllabus either to scare you or to make their class look difficult, which makes them look like a good professor. You don’t have to fall for it.

I personally don’t think it would be humanely possible to do all the readings for a full-time schedule. Some people do it, and put in their 50 hours a week. They will get good grades, and they deserve them. But they also have to work too hard for it. We are going to cut down on this reading, so you get a good grade without the 50 hours a week.

Whenever you’re assigned a reading, think, “Why should I read this?” One reason might be that you’re interested in it. If you’re going to enjoy reading and learning the information, then by all means do it. After you employ the methods in this book, you’ll have plenty of time to read for fun.