Worried About the Grade Cap? Study More.

Harvard is deflating grades — and students aren’t too happy.

I won’t rehash the debate around grade inflation, nor will I try again to console students. All I will say is that there’s no use crying over spilt milk. The A-grade cap is coming next year, and several introductory courses have already adopted it. So, don’t get mad; get even.

If you’re worried about grade deflation, the solution is simple: study more.

This advice may sound vulgar. Yet, it should come as no surprise to Harvard students. In order to be admitted to the best university in the world, students presumably studied hard and performed well. If we did it before, we can do it now, too.

Otherwise, it would be ironic for Harvard students — who worked hard to gain an advantage in the zero-sum game of admissions — to now object to working hard in what they see as a zero-sum grading scheme.

Given that we are all Harvard students, I won’t dare to suggest I know how to study better than the next person. The habits you’ve used up to this point have evidently served you well. However, I do want to offer the best advice and time-tested techniques that I have encountered over the years.

For example, Georgetown professor Calvin Newport wrote a book — aptly titled “How to Become a Straight-A Student” — which includes many helpful recommendations. Some of my favorites include taking notes in a “question/evidence/conclusion” format, block-scheduling time to work piecemeal on large assignments each day, and studying using the quiz-and-recall method.

For the savvy student seeking more advanced advice, I recommend another Newport book — “Deep Work” — on how to cultivate a deeper focus and thus work more efficiently.

Columbia University alumna Bethany Ward kept a curated selection of articles, essays, and ideas from each of her classes, allowing her to revisit a subject and form connections between them.

Another book, “Atomic Habits,” by James Clear, teaches us that small daily practices culminate in great results — which is especially true for studying.

It seems to me that today’s Harvard is defined by students in search of their big break. And yet, success comes not from doing great in any single moment, but from a foundation of hard work. As the ancient Greek poet Archilochus may have put it, “You don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training.”

These may not be the secrets you were hoping for, but there are no reliable shortcuts to success.

Besides, if all this talk of studying sounds unappealing, it’s okay to realize that grades aren’t the single most important thing to you. For most people, they probably shouldn’t be.

Many students deeply value their extracurricular activities and worry that the grading reforms may eat into their hobbies. Yet, students still have complete discretion over how they allocate their time to clubs — they just aren’t automatically entitled to an A in non-extracurriculars.

As Professor Noah Feldman explains, students have many ways to distinguish themselves. Grades are just one of them, and they might not be the most important one unless you want to be an academic.

Life has a variety of rewards, and grades are only one of them. Don’t be afraid of taking the odd jobs because, after all, you never quite know what will pay off.

With that uncertainty, the surest path to prosperity is to do what you really enjoy — in and out of the classroom. That’s not just a platitude — it’s the best way to enter flow state. So, if you really want to be successful, find something that you truly care about and that keeps you motivated to work, day in and day out. And hopefully, in this process, you’ll realize that grades don’t define you in the first place or even matter that much.

In whatever we do, our motivation should be intrinsic, and our goal should not be achieving, but striving itself.

So my real advice? Get enough sleep. Eat three meals a day. Spend time with your friends. Besides that, do whatever you really want.

Matthew R. Tobin ’27, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a double concentrator in Social Studies and Economics in Winthrop House.