Meet Amar Radia, our U.K. Scholarship winner. Amar is studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The University of Oxford. He received  £500 for his top contributions to our knowledge community. We had the pleasure of recently interviewing this academic thought leader. Below are his responses (See his notes here):



How did you find out about GradeGuru?
I was discussing exam revision notes with one of my friends and he mentioned GradeGuru, which I then went and Googled.

What do you think of the idea of a note sharing website?
I think its a great idea. It makes a lot more academic sense than a website for sharing essays which just invites plagiarism. Students put a lot of time into preparing detailed notes which generally are never looked at once they finish their exams. A note sharing website puts all the hard work to good use.

How do you feel about helping other students?
I really enjoy helping other students and find it great when someone appreciates help that I’ve given them. Its nice to be able to pass on things that you have learned to others.

Why did you decide to contribute?
A lot of people were asking me for my notes, and once I saw that I could put them online so that everybody could get access to them and make some money out of it then it was an easy decision.

Will you use the site for studying?
If there are notes available for subjects I need then definitely.

What would you tell your peers about the site?
To go and check it out!

Do you typically share notes with classmates?
Yes.

What are your thoughts on the GradeGuru Scholarship for academic excellence as a concept?
I think its a fantastic idea.

What does winning this award mean to you?
It means a lot to me that people are finding my notes useful and I am getting rewarded for it.

What will you spend the money on?
I’m going traveling in a couple of weeks so it will probably go towards that. I could also do with a new laptop so might buy one with the money!

Meet Heather Rogers, our U.S. Scholarship winner for the 2009 Spring semester. Heather is the recipient of the $1,500 GradeGuru Scholarship for Academic Excellence for her impressive amount of top quality notes. She recently graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Psychology and will be going to Forham University School of Law in the Fall. In addition to the scholarship, Amanda earned hundreds of dollars in rewards from her notes and  helped many of her peers in the process. We had the pleasure last week of  talking to Heather and learning more about her involvement with GradeGuru in the Cornell campus. (See Heather’s notes here):



What motivated you to use GradeGuru?
After four years in college, I’ve accumulated thousands of pages of pretty meticulous class notes. GradeGuru seemed like a great way to be rewarded for all of my hard work and to help others who may be struggling through the same hard classes that I survived.

How did you find out about GradeGuru?
I found out about GradeGuru through my sorority.

How has GradeGuru helped you this semester?
GradeGuru was actually really helpful in most of my classes this past semester. I used it to refresh my knoweldge of certain psychology concepts when I was working on my senior thesis. I used GradeGuru’s notes when I was preparing for interviews. I was also lucky enough to find a study guide for a class that I was taking during the semester—that was a huge help when it came time for me to study for the midterm.

How do you think your note contributions helped others?
I tend to take down nearly everything that the professor says during class, so a lot of my notes are as comprehensive as the actual lecture.  My study guides and textbook notes also go into a lot of detail, so I think they’ll be really helpful to anyone studying the material at a different school or in the same class at my own school.

Why did you contribute notes to the site?
Truthfully, it seemed like a great way to make some fast cash for work that I had already done. I always laughed about how my course notes were at least 100 pages long. I was really excited to actually be rewarded for all of my hard work. GradeGuru seemed too good to be true when I first learned about it!

Will you use the site for studying?
I will definitely use GradeGuru when I’m in law school next year. I’m looking forward to using it as a supplement to my own notes and as a guide when it comes time to make outlines and study for exams!

Do you typically share notes with classmates?
I’m always willing to give someone my notes when they’re taking a class that I had previously taken. I really appreciate it when someone does that for me, so I try to pay it forward.

How do you feel about winning the GradeGuru scholarship?
I am ECSTATIC! I can’t believe that I won so much money for work that I had already done!

What will you do with the money?
I will definitely be putting this money toward books during my next three years in school!

What features would you like to see GradeGuru develop?
I would love to see a “Q&A” forum where students could ask specific class or topic questions and get answers from other students. It would also be great if students could list the specific classes and professors that they are taking and then get e-mail alerts when someone adds new notes for their classes.

What can we do better?
Spread the word even more! A lot of people don’t know about this site! A lot of people (especially at Cornell) pay for a note-taking service. It would definitely save everyone a lot of money if they were able to find similar class notes online.