By the time students enter college, they’ve logged over 16,000 hours in academic learning. One would expect them to be expert learners, poised for success.
Yet instead of thriving, many are struggling, disengaging, or quitting altogether.
Why?
This isn’t about apathy or unpreparedness. It’s about good students—hardworking, active learners—falling into invisible academic traps that limit their success.
🔹 They study.
🔹 They work hard.
🔹 Yet their grades don’t match their effort.
The Good Student Dilemma
Imagine this:
You’re a high-performing professional in a new job. You work harder than ever, expecting to excel—only to be told your performance is subpar. You seek feedback, adjust, and try again. Still, your efforts fall short.
Frustrated, you disengage.
This is exactly what happens to good students in college. They enter with confidence, only to be blindsided by poor grades and a learning environment that rewards strategic learners, not just hard workers. Over time, they emotionally detach, just like the struggling employee.
Why This Matters
💡 80% of college students fall into this category.
💡 They often go unnoticed because they pass courses—but never reach their potential.
💡 The impact is massive: disengagement, lost tuition revenue, and declining institutional success.
The Three Hidden Traps Holding Students Back
1️⃣ The 80/20 Trap → Students assume attending class = learning.
2️⃣ The Academic Myopia Trap → They focus on content, not the thinking skills the course is designed to build.
3️⃣ The Pseudowork Trap → They work harder, not smarter, mistaking effort for progress.
The Fix? A Shift in How We Support Students
In How to Successfully Transition Students into College: From Traps to Triumph, I reveal how small shifts in teaching and academic support can transform student performance.
✅ Teach students to validate their notes—then go beyond them.
✅ Help them see how learning outcomes—not just content—drive success.
✅ Show them how to study smarter, not just longer.
Colleges invest heavily in at-risk students yet ignore the majority who are struggling in silence.
It’s time to change that.
What if colleges designed learning centers and policies for the students who are already engaged—but just need a better playbook?
That’s how we turn hard work into high achievement—impacting the most students while building academic cultures of excellence rather than stagnation.
Drop a thoughtful message in the “comment” section and get a free copy of the infographic 👇🏿.
See The Difference
View the revised original article here: https://thelearnwellprojects.com/why-good-students-do-bad-in-college-proven-insights-2/
What an excellent resource! Our Dean is looking forward to discussing this article with our faculty. Thank you!
Hi Kelly,
I’m happy that you found it helpful. I hope your colleagues see it so as well.
The illustrations do an outstanding job showing a the differences between high school and college and what is expected of students.
Hi Diane,
Thanks for your contribution. Your signed copy of the book is on its way!
I agree that we need to have very explicit conversations about the important differences between high school and college. Almost all students have been told that before (also about the transition from middle school to high school), but unless we break down exactly what some of those differences are, they will likely not fully appreciate the extent to which they will have to change their mindset, habits, and approaches to studying. Unfortunately, many are blindsided by that first semester in college (because they didn’t fully understand or appreciate what to expect) and need multiple semesters to recover.