There are many books dedicated to how to study. This book differs from them in two ways. First, it starts where the others end. It is the rest of the story. It describes events and activities that go on inside and outside of your classes that can potentially impact your grades in significant ways. It provides techniques that you can utilize to turn these events and activities into opportunities to improve your grades beyond what studying alone can provide. Second, it describes why grades matter. It is hard to get motivated to really work for something if you don't see any significant rewards in spending the effort. This book explains the many ways that grades, good and bad, will impact you career as well as your life. Understanding how recruiters, managers, and universities will look at you when you apply for jobs and advanced degrees will help you will provide a foundation for that additional work. Two good questions are where did these techniques come from and do they work? Here are the answers. The author entered the adult world with little more than a poor high school education. He soon realized that his lack of job skills had put his life on a direct path to nowhere. At 191/2 he began a quest to improve his situation. It took him five years to get into college. Once there he realized that the easy part was over. The real problem was staying there. That is, earning the grades required to progress through college and earn a degree in his chosen field - electrical engineering. Faced with substantial competition and a strong desire to survive, the author studied the little known process by which grades come about and developed techniques to increase his probability of getting top grades. Do the techniques work? You be the judge. In the book, the author explains the techniques and how they helped him graduate with a 3.94 average, and then go on to obtain a doctorate from one of the best engineering schools in the country. Sound good? There is more. As time passed, the author realized that what you do in college, and how you do it, sets the stage for your career as well as the rest of your life. Understanding the many ways grades can impact your career and life is fundamental to achieving success in those worlds. Grades are a springboard to opportunities. The stronger your springboard, the higher your potential. While this book provides techniques to help you improve your grades, it does much more. It shows that working on grades can enhance one's problem solving skills. Skills which are crucial to success in one's career as well as one's life. Skills that will further strengthen your springboard. Remember: companies hire to obtain skills, not people. This book will help you learn, refine, and maintain those skills.