The Book - Smith Rivas

About the book

Helping parents, teachers, administrators, and even a few students have more rewarding college experiences.

The problem with higher education today is that colleges are not transparent about their students’ academic lives, so families don’t know what their students should experience or accomplish in college.

This Book Will Not Be on the Test is part ‘on-the-ground college insider tell-all memoir’ and part ‘study skills bible’. It’s brutally honest, relatable, entirely free of jargon, and alerts parents to a huge problem in American education today—high school doesn’t prepare students to thrive in college.

Every parent, instructor, and administrator will recognize their college students throughout this book, but don’t worry: we can help you restore value to the college experience.

Buy on Amazon

Parents

If you plan to pay for college someday, you’d be crazy not to read this book right now.

Teachers

If you want students to learn anything in your class, read this book with them first.

Administrators

If you admit that students aren’t learning anything but you remain optimistic, you’ll love this book.

Endorsements

Daniel H. Pink, Author of When and Drive

“As college costs continue to soar, it’s become even more important to get the most out of your time on campus. You can get on top of schoolwork, participate in rewarding extracurriculars, and prepare yourself for an exciting post-college life by following the steps in this smart, practical book.”

Daniel H. Pink

Author of When and Drive

“Paul Rivas has a gift for understanding what it takes to unlock a young person’s academic potential. In this book is his invaluable guidance, for every type learner: something every college-bound student, and their parents, should read.”

Judy Woodruff

PBS NewsHour

Nomvula Mbambo, Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls ’12, Brown University ’17

“This Book… is exactly what international students need to thrive in American universities.”

Nomvula Mbambo

Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls ’12, Brown University ’17

Ryan Spilborghs, Former Major League Baseball player

“Every kid who wants to be a college athlete should read this book…”

Ryan Spilborghs

Former Major League Baseball player

“A tremendous, on-the-ground application of the science of learning that entertains and inspires.”

Ulrich Boser

Author of Learn Better

Stephen L Chew, Samford University Psychology Professor and Chair

“Paul Rivas takes research about how people learn and translates it into effective practices that students can implement and use to succeed in their classes.”

Stephen L Chew

Samford University Psychology Professor and Chair

Author Paul Smith Rivas

Paul Smith Rivas got into Stanford but didn’t go. Instead, he did a BA in Mathematics, Sociology, and Spanish at UC Santa Barbara, and an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at The New School. He lives by the beach with his trilingual wife and Barry the Study Dog.

Learn More

Book Reviews

See all Amazon Reviews

Every Student’s Much Needed Kick in the Pants

“As either a parent or educator, I’m sure you’ve met many students who make excuses about why they weren’t able to get something done on time or put in their best effort:

“I didn’t understand the instructions;” “I’m a visual learner, but the material was given verbally;” “I’m just not smart.”” Read More

“As either a parent or educator, I’m sure you’ve met many students who make excuses about why they weren’t able to get something done on time or put in their best effort:

“I didn’t understand the instructions;”
“I’m a visual learner, but the material was given verbally;”
“My coach made me put in 20 hours on the court last week;”
“I’m scared of lightning and there was a thunderstorm last night;” (this is actually an excuse given to my husband when he was a professor)
“I’m just not smart.”

Now that we have Paul Rivas’s book, no one has the right to make such claims. In a fantastic, no-nonsense, practical guide to developing study skills, Mr. Rivas forces students to recognize that they must take responsibility for their educations and adopt simple skills to get the most out of everything they do. Everyone from this year’s Intel Science Competition winners to those with long-term learning differences will find helpful strategies to be successful in high school, college and beyond.

Mr. Rivas gets at the core of the various scenarios that hold students back from success and provides strategies, time management tools, and advice on “soft skills” that will ensure that any reader will not only get smarter, but also have more time for fun!

As a college consultant, you can bet that I’m going to recommend this book to all of my students.”

Doc

Great resource for parents looking to help their kids get better grades!

“This was a very valuable book as a parent of teenagers, as it zooms way out and gives you the context you need to understand the landscape of high school and college and tips on how you can help your kids play the game way more efficiently. Easy read, smart and witty, I would definitely recommend this to anyone with kids in jr high or high school.”

The book I wish I’d had when I was in school!

“I found Paul Rivas’ book to be very straightforward and written in a style that would appeal to the teenagers with whom I work. As an educational consultant, I will be recommending This Book Will Not Be on the Test to all of my students.”

College Fit Admissions

Your kid’s not ready for college yet. These study skills will help.

“I can promise you that Paul Rivas is for real. I’ve been an educator for five years, and have worked with a number of Paul’s students in the DC area. Among his diverse students (top athletes, STEM super stars, kids who have more academic challenges), certain traits stand out in all of them – they aren’t afraid of not knowing, they own their own learning, and they have systems to manage everything in between.” Read More

This book is a short and sweet presentation of the experience and skills that have made Rivas such a sought after coach in the DC Area. But make no mistake — that does not mean he skimps on telling you the good stuff and he does not mince his words.

Paul helps kids out of the self-sabotaging delusion that prevents them from being the awesome people they can be. “”My teacher isn’t good”” or “”I’m just really tired”” or “”That’s not my learning style”” are no longer reasons for kids not to make a plan, study effectively, and live their dreams. This combination of mindset and concrete study skills is gold. I cannot stress the importance of this book’s message enough. Most kids are going to college woefully unprepared, and there are concrete things we can do to make them self reliant and excited for the possibilities in front of them.”

Right to the Point

“Rivas is as brilliant as he is blunt. He’s like this with his professional speaking and writing. The students in my large, university classes always admired his direct style and dry wit. I think this style of his is useful when it comes to delivering practical advice about scholarship and good life habits. Where so many others take a lofty, magical route, Rivas’ writing only advocates for the magic of hard work and smart work. If I was still teaching a frosh success course, this book would be on my reading list.”

Don L

Practical Methods

“As a parent, as a professional and as a lifelong learner this book was useful. This book gets into the nuts and bolts of how to study and learn effectively. It also spends time building up a student’s motivation to change the system that they are currently using. This isn’t just the same old advice rehashed. There are some useful gems in this that I have not seen anywhere else.”

Ali

Most realistic book on real life implications of study skills

“This book is amazing in so many ways! It provides a real world experience of just how vital study skills are to life. It also offers parents an inside look on how study skills can impact teens and young adults at different life stages. Furthermore, the practical tools offered are very helpful. As a professional in the field, I really value all that Mr. Rivas’ book has to offer parents and their children.”

Great for students, teachers and parents

“My son struggles with executive functioning, and this book addresses this, plus so much more. This book is a great conversation starter for parents with their teen, too. Even in middle school, it is good for kids to think about Rule #3: Taking responsibility for your learning and Rule #7 Aim for awesomeness, not A’s.

An added bonus was the section where Rivas talked about the ability to write a good thank you note and also a good apology note. This is sooooo important and it can open doors of opportunity for adults and students. I’ve never heard anyone talk about this before.”

Christine G

Amazing Book, Even for Adults

“I just finished reading this book. I just have to say wow, wow!!
Things I really liked:
-Even as a “”functional adult”” who has finished a PhD and has a full time job, I found the book useful in learning new ways to organize myself and have success. The book provides a workbook that helps you to do small exercises about how you can better plan out your activities for success. I found this extremely helpful and found it brought me a lot of success in my professional life.
-The author is a Latino living in the US. He provides great insights into the learning problems that minority groups face when going to college. As a professor I found these insights very useful, especially for identifying how to better support minorities in my classroom.
Fantastic work!”

Maria Savage

Must-read for recent high school graduates

“After failing some exams during my first semester of University I knew it was time for a change. Thankfully, this book by Paul Rivas entered my life. Without reading this book I wouldn’t have learned the necessary skills I needed to not only get through college but also be successful overall and build great habits. I would recommend this book to any incoming 1st-year students or parents who want to give their child an advantage over their peers. From how to study, ways to prepare for assignments, how to manage your time, and mapping out your academic year, it has it all. You will definitely not be disappointed by the amount of VALUE this book holds.”

Fernando

See all Amazon Reviews

College is coming. Get the book now.

Buy on Amazon