The best performing students I've ever met weren't ridiculously smart. They were slightly above average, but they excelled at finding out exactly what the teac

The best performing students I've ever met weren't ridiculously smart. They were slightly above average, but they excelled at finding out exactly what the teacher was going to test and drilling that ruthlessly. They also worked harder than most of their peers. They also know how to present their answers well, and I think teachers subconsciously give them more credit when they're not exactly right. As a funny anecdote, once I let a top copy my homework because he had just come home from a family emergency. He actually got a higher score on that homework than I did, despite the content of our answers being the same.