how I graduated at the top of my class (and you can too)

The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant’s annual premium subscription.

Trying to graduate as the valedictorian of your class? Here are my best tips.

COME CHAT WITH ME

NEED HELP WITH COLLEGE APPS?

FOLLOW ME

ABOUT ME
My name is Gohar Khan, and I'm an MIT grad helping you succeed at school. I make videos about study strategies, college applications, and occasionally, my day-to-day life. I want to equip students with the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to realize their academic potential.

CONTACT

This video was sponsored by Brilliant.

[blanchett]

Tip #1: Weighted Vs. Unweighted GPA
Tip #2: Make Special Requests
- Take as many AP classes as you can
Tip #3: Save the Hard APs for Later during your high school career
- Make a list of all the AP courses you want to take and save the hardest ones for your senior year
Tip #4: Don't compare yourself
- Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses and how to improve your performance for these subjects
Tip #5: Make a strict after-school routine
Tip #6: Optimize your work environment
- Declutter your desk
- Throw out any garbage
- Lay out your supplies
Tip #7: Try the Feynman Technique
- Identify the concept you want to learn
- Pretend to teach the concept. (you can use a mini whiteboard and pretend you're teaching an actual class)
- Figure out gaps in your knowledge
- Fill in these gaps by going back to your notes and textbooks
Tip #8: Use spaced repetition
- 7 days, then 5 days, then 3 days, then 1 day before an exam
Tip #9: Split everything evenly
Tip #10: Ask for help
- Use StackExchange and ask questions on forums
Tip #11: ALWAYS do the extra credits

Thanks for the great tips!

[zippyn]

This is honestly so inspiring. I’m in my Junior year of high school, and have taken no AP classes and have a 3.1 GPA. I wish so badly that I had found you sooner. So, **If you are in middle school or a freshman in high school, listen to this man!** this advice is incredible and will make your high school journey so much better. Thank you Gohar for helping so many people!

[goharsguide]

hope y'all found this video helpful! going to try my best to publish more consistently haha

[isrraelsumano]

This video came out a few days after I was informed I was graduating as class valedictorian, and I’m amazed at how many things you said are accurate and fall in line with what I did throughout high school. It was my goal since my first year too and I carefully selected which classes to take, knowing who I was going against and to be aware of which teachers graded harshly. 😂

[gDawg]

I’m currently a freshman, but I’ve been watching these videos since 7th grade. Thank you so much for the content you make, it’s so helpful with structuring the path to (hopefully) valedictorian!

[oaknotes]

I don’t know if you’ve mentioned this in any videos prior, but I suggest using the Pomodoro technique when studying. Basically it’s an alarm with a repeating study and break timer. You can adjust both settings, e.g. study for 25 min and break for 5 mins. this cycle repeats, and on some websites, when it hits the 4th loop, you can extend your break.

[itsmemackbook]

I’m so glad that I found you at the end of my freshman year of high school. I’ll be more prepared than ever since I’ll be sophomore for the upcoming school year! Thank you for inspiring me Gohar! :)

[jocelyn]

Problem is is that I got a super unfair teacher this year that absolutely destroyed all chances of me getting an A in his class and then on top of that one of our students came from a school that did weight honors classes while we don’t so he kinda got an advantage.

[Glass-nsly]

Not gonna lie, that tip about a restricting after school schedule could be really helpful to me considering I do extracurriculars and take all honors classes 😅
Lets just say that it's almost 10 rn and I still haven't gotten my homework done

[nahzeliemanucharyan]

My school literally used the Feynman technique this whole time and i had no idea. This is how it usually goes:
For a history class the teacher would assign a lesson, and then everyone would go home and read the lesson. During the next lesson the teacher would call on random students and have them explain the lesson to them as if they didnt know the lesson.
While i was taking individual/one on one classes (because i was behind in school, due to me moving) my teachers would use this technique, and it helped me catch up to my classmates really quickly

[trombonist-boyi]

Notes (rising ninth grader)

Tip 1: Unweighted vs Weighted GPA
- go for hardest classes possible, make best grade possible
Tip 2: Make Special Requests
- try to get more AP classes, especially ones thst you’re not allowed to take at your grade level
Tip 3: Take harder APs later in high school
(sponsor segment)
Tip 4: Don’t compare yourself
-find your weakest subjects
-find strengths and weaknesses (eg: overthinking, reading, algebra)
Tip 5: make a strict after school routine
-limit leisure with phone timers
Tip 6: Feynman Technique
-identify concept
-pretend to teach concept to a child or beginner
-go all out! try using mini whiteboard or even teach an actual child or whatever
-figure out gaps in knowledge
-fill in gaps w/ notes or material
Tip 7: Spaced Repetition
-review things every day or two.
Tip 8: split everything evenly. never procrastinate
Tip 9: constantly ask for help/questions
-stack exchange or reddit. or chat gpt! make sure it explains steps.
Tip 10: ALWAYS do the extra credit. ALWAYS!! That’ll make you valedictorian

[papaya]

I respect anyone who's aiming for valedictorian, but I also wanted to point out that from hearing all of this, I personally think that it's too much work for not a lot of payoff. It's an amazing feat, of course, and it looks good for college as well, but the amount of work and, more importantly, stress and anxiety, that comes with taking all these AP classes can be super detrimental to your mental health.

However, these tips are really helpful even if you just generally want to keep a good GPA and gain good work ethic/study skills as well!

Great video, thanks for making it!

[peachycloudz]

This is very helpful, I'm going into highschool next year and this gives me ideas on what I need to improve on myself for highschool.

[cheezit]

That Feyman Technique does WONDERS!!! I genuinely feel so much more confident since i started using it last year (freshman year). Still waiting for my Junior year rank after sophomore year but last year I ranked 23/998 so I definitely think I could be top 15!

[vivekvenigalla]

The crazy thing in my school is that you can take as many AP's you want and no one will care, as long as you have the prerequisites and the capacity to handle those classes. Because of this some people next year are taking 7 APs as a sophomore. I am taking 6 as I also aspire to be valedictorian, but the outrageous competition at my school paired with these loopholes make it very hard to do so.

[Acousticlystrange]

I realize a lot of these high school advice videos say in addition to many things I already know "be confident and stive for quality" wether that be in your work, in your friendships, in your classes, be confident, kind, and never settle if you're going into high school like me or you're just anyone that's my advice. Because it takes confidence and discipline to actually strive for what you want. -wait did I just write a paragraph of my future valedictorian speech if I ever get blessed to go that far?

[rileyk]

I attribute the Feynman technique for my ability to be top of my class. Being able to teach a concept requires a deeper understanding of said concept and it requires you to be able to remember it, which served me well helping fellow students and taking tests.

[bungiyungi]

I was valedictorian when I graduated from my middle school, now I hope to get valedictorian again in high school. I believe you should take as much ap clases you can, but choose wisely. I recommend you choose the ones that can help you get into the college you want. My friend took many ap clases and was valedictorian, but when she applied for college some of her ap clases were rejected. This is just a recommendation.

[DireNeedforCoffee]

Hey I would love a video like this on your college experience. I'm class of 2023 and getting ready for it so it'd be pretty helpful if you broke down how you studied STEM in college so efficiency.
Thanks!

[kingslayer]

i always used the Feynman Process ever since i was a kid, because it was a simple trick to easily understand whatever concept i was learning.