Luck? I doubt it.

Getting an A isn't easy, or at least it shouldn't be. An A is supposed to mean "outstanding scholarship." Something is "outstanding" because it is quite a lot better than what most people normally produce.

If you want an A in my class you'll have to work on your writing and your thinking skills. You'll have to take care how you write essays, how you put your thoughts into words, how you communicate to me that you know what you're talking about, and you'll have to show a level of understanding that goes beyond mere basics. Getting an A requires knowing what you're talking about, but that's taken for granted. I mean, if you don't know your concepts, your terminology, your facts, and so on, then you're not even going to get a B. Also taken for granted is the knack for following directions that people who get A's seem to have. People who don't follow directions often don't get A grades.

Let me try being a little more specific. When it comes to the writing assignments, I usually hand out a description of the assignment. It might or might not contain options for you to choose from. It might not tell you about length requirements if those are already stated on the syllabus. An A student knows what's on the syllabus. It might require that you follow APA style (which you can count on in any upper-level psychology course). An A student finds out about APA style and uses it correctly. In any event, there are the "tips for writing essay assignments" on the syllabus, and an A student will have followed those at least. (If I don't demand APA, then I do demand that you follow one of the standards: APA, MLA, or Chicago; an A student follows one of the standards correctly.) Following these basic instructions is one important step to getting an A, but there's more.

An A paper doesn't only avoid error, it reads well. There's something smooth about an A paper. It's written in a comfortable voice, not straining to be a work of academic perfection or jargon, but it uses terminology as comfortably as it uses the rest of the language. If there's material taken from outside sources (that is, anything outside your head), this material is worked smoothly into the paper and cited correctly. All factual claims, except the most obvious (e.g., "the world is round") are supported with citations and references showing where the information has previously been published. The paper is well-organized, it flows, it has something new or interesting to say, and it's typically free of errors in grammar or spelling. (It might have penciled-in corrections on the final draft, which is fine because it shows the author was making one last check for mistakes and found them before I did.) The content of the A paper is correct, the arguments are organized and logical, and the author shows that he or she really understands the material that the paper is about. After all, it's a paper that you had plenty of time to work on - time to learn the material that you decided to write about, and I expect you to at least know your topic.

The A answer on an in-class quiz or test is something a little different. When you take a quiz in class you're under pressure, so I don't expect the smoothest writing. You have one chance, one draft to communicate that you know what you're talking about, and I take this into consideration. The A answer, however, doesn't fail to communicate that you know what the material is all about without leaving it up to me to guess whether you know. It covers the bases, but it also sticks to the question. It's exact. It doesn't guess what I'm looking for - it understands and answers the question. It doesn't stray on a tangent related to the question - it answers the particular question. Answers to take-home tests are treated a little more like papers.

I hope this doesn't sound too scary - I'm just being honest with you. Few people get A's all the time. I didn't, and neither did most of your teachers (because if we did we'd probably be in some higher paying secure job at a well-known institution).

Perhaps you can't write well enough for an A. Well, you'll have to work on it, then. There's no other way out. I can't emphasize it enough: buy a writing handbook, such as the Harbrace College Handbook or Diana Hacker's Pocket Style Manual or the Chicago Manual of Style, and use it! Practice! If you happen to be blessed with a high IQ it tends to make things easier; those of us with average IQs just have to work harder to make it look like we have higher IQs. Such is life. Or at least such is college. The tall folks have it easier in basketball and the smart folks have it easier in school; the rest of us just have to work harder, and it's too bad, but it's true.

Then what does it take for a B? Mostly the same as for an A, but with imperfections. The B is supposed to represent good work, "above average," although it's probably the average grade at many colleges today. The B essay might not flow as naturally, although technically well organized. The idea might not be as new or interesting, although standard and perfectly acceptable. There might be problems in style or grammar, but there won't be too many of these. (As with an A paper, all papers are improved when the final draft contains a few penciled corrections instead of neatly typed errors.) Use the comments I give on your writing assignments to help make the next ones better. (By the way, for those in DE, you can't pencil in anything, so make your final corrections in type.) The B paper also shows command of the knowledge of the topic, though not quite as deep a level of command as the A paper shows.

And B answers on quizzes? They're mostly right, usually without errors, but typically incomplete. This lack of completeness might come from stopping short of communicating the whole issue, or it might be due to weaknesses of understanding.

As things get worse: C work is mostly decent, but this might not be the same in other classes. It's supposed to represent "satisfactory scholarship," but due to grade inflation the C is sometimes given as a very low grade. An essay that gets C grades in my class might have the right idea but too many problems communicating it (i.e., grammar, sentence structure, organization, etc.), or it might have problems in the idea and fewer problems in the communication. The C is not a very low grade - D and F are very low grades, which represent faulty and extremely faulty work (little to say, misunderstood concepts, misunderstood directions, poor sentence structure, disorganization, missing references, and so on). The C is acceptable, but if you are getting D and F grades, then you need to work on basics. Study more, study differently (the old study habits obviously aren't working), and get help from others (but don't cheat - papers that rely on cheating, like plagiarism, whether intentional and malicious or not, get an automatic F). If the problem is persistent, look into courses that help with basic study skills and writing and reading skills. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, but it is something to work on. Ignoring it won't improve your grades.

What's the bottom line? This is college, and grades aren't free. They're not even sold for the price of tuition. You earn grades independently of paying for tuition, and you earn them by working and being careful about your writing and scholarship.

Also see the page, "to compare, contrast, question, doubt, argue, and learn from the data."

And the hints for introductory course students.

Michael S. Ofsowitz , 1998/2002