How To Score a GPA of 3.98/4.00 – Interview with Straight-A Student Daniel Wong

Today, I’m excited to unveil the first episode of Celes TV! My first interview is with Daniel Wong, all-time straight-A student, salutatorian (meaning top second student) at Victoria Junior College (one of the top junior colleges in Singapore), and a double degree graduate from Duke (one of the top universities in United States) with a GPA of 3.98/4.00! How incredible is that?

I interviewed Daniel because he’s a solid person with a down-to-earth personality. Given that he attained such an incredibly high GPA, I thought he would be the perfect person to share life and learning tips to both students and non-students!

The entire recording took an hour and was filmed in Daniel’s home, as I wanted to catch him in his natural environment. I have edited the interview down to 13 minutes with the core messages. You can watch the video above. Key things covered:

• When Daniel started pursuing Straight-As
• Why achieving his Straight-As did not make Daniel happy, and what eventually did
• How Daniel rediscovered meaning in education and his personal life
• How to be the top student in school (Strategies which Daniel used while studying that eventually led him to achieve a GPA of 3.98/4.00!)
• Useful websites which will enrich your learning
• One simple tip to beat distraction when studying
• What the “Forgetting Curve” is and the best days you should review your material to ensure maximum information retention
• Learn about the “Cone of Learning” and how you should learn to increase maximum information takeaway
• Other simple yet effective “hacks” to increase information retention
• Whether Daniel set himself out to achieve his 3.98/4.00 GPA and how he went about achieving it
• The importance of running your own race vs. the race others want you to run

• [A GIVEAWAY SPECIAL] Win an AUTOGRAPHED version of Daniel’s Book, The Happy Student by following two simple steps!! There are two copies for giveaway. Watch the video till the end for more details! Update: Contest has ended but you are still welcome to share your answers on the Youtube video page! :)

More tips on how to be a top student from me: How To Get on the Dean’s List (3-part series)

For Non-Students as Well

While the interview may seem geared towards students, everything we covered is applicable to non-students too. Learning isn’t limited to just students. I highly encourage all of you to watch the video and learn from what Daniel has to share!