1. Communicate early and often. Know you’re going to miss class, or be late on an assignment? Confused about an upcoming exam? Say something now instead of later. This shows your professor and TA that you’re on top of things, that you want to work with them to do well in their class.

2. Don’t copy and paste from websites into papers. Just don’t do it. Even if you just mean to take a phrase or capture some facts that you’ll integrate into your paper later, copying and pasting is a slippery slope, and if anything you didn’t write actually gets into your paper, it’s usually pretty obvious. The easiest way to dodge plagiarism charges is just to completely avoid the temptation to copy and paste.

3. Have someone proofread your papers. Pain in the ass, I know…but it’s worth making a deal with a friend or classmate to have each of you proofread the other person’s papers before they’re submitted. There are misspellings, typos, and other errors that you’ll never catch on your own, and those mistakes make your work look sloppy. The fewer errors your prof spots, the more he or she will be convinced that you actually give a shit.

4. Go to office hours. College rules usually force faculty members and TAs to hold regular office hours for their students to visit. Usually, no one comes. Stop by, early in the semester. Yeah, it could be a little awkward, but you’ll earn major points that can mean your instructor will cut you some slack when you need it—and if you ever want a letter of recommendation, you definitely want the person writing it to remember your face.

5. Don’t miss deadlines. This sounds obvious, but generally speaking, a crappy piece of work submitted on time is better than a better piece of work submitted late. Why? Because (a) you’ll lose points and inconvenience your teachers by turning stuff in late, and (b) you’re probably fooling yourself about having the time and energy to do a better job on your work later. Then you’re submitting work that’s still crappy—and, now, late.

6. Read the instructions. Another one that sounds obvious…but it’s amazing how often people lose points because they just kind of sort of read the assignment. Before you submit a paper or an exam, go back and look at the assignment or the questions to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

7. Know how to cite. Academic citation can be really confusing, especially if you didn’t go to a high school where they made you use it. If you don’t know how to cite in the style preferred by your program (usually APA), go to one of those info sessions they probably offer at the library or tutoring center or whatever and just figure it out. Until you do, you’ll just be bleeding grade points unnecessarily.

8. Err on the side of keeping your opinions to yourself. A lot of times you’ll be explicitly asked to give your opinion on a subject, whether in discussion or in a paper—and sometimes your professor actually wants your opinion. In general, though, it’s best to steer clear of throwing your opinions around, especially in written work. Why? Not because your prof is likely to be offended—though that’s always a possibility—but because you’re basically being trained to be an academic, and in academic papers, you’re supposed to check your opinions at the door. For example, say you’re writing a paper on gay marriage. You might be tempted to wrap up with a sunny paragraph praising the spread of gay marriage laws across the U.S., and saying you hope it continues. Your professor probably agrees, but if you instead say something neutral like, “Indications are that the legalization of same-sex marriage is likely to ultimately spread across all 50 states,” you’ll sound much more academic.

9. Back yourself up with sources. If you’re making an assertion of fact, check that fact and cite your source. This does get time-consuming, yes, but in general, it’s considered poor academic form to throw around assertions that you’re not supporting. Plus, even if you think you’re saying something completely obvious, you might be surprised to find that it’s wrong.

10. Remember that your professor can see you sleeping in class. And, FYI, the girl behind you can see you watching porn.

– Jay Gabler