For coursework in college, there are many complicating factors. Part of the problem is just learning how to learn, vs. learning how to cram. The really diffic

For coursework in college, there are many complicating factors. Part of the problem is just learning how to learn, vs. learning how to cram. The really difficult paths through sci/tech programs are the ones where you can't just cram facts into your head to pass a test and then forget it all a week later - it's where everything you learn in course A becomes a foundation for everything you learn in course B, and so on, and if you fall off the horse anywhere along that ride, it's very difficult to get back on. Often, the people who do really well in the later courses will have adopted a learning strategy that's not about cramming, it's about note-taking and foundational learning, so then the later coursework becomes much easier for them, such that to someone who hasn't done that, these people seem to glide effortlessly through the work, while others have to put in hours and hours with apparently poorer results. Some people learn that early on, others have to take their lumps and learn it later (I was in the latter category, but it was a lesson worth learning).