Whether you are in high school or college, your GPA matters. For a high-schooler it may not seem as important, but in order to get into a good school that has a good standing you have to bring it up at LEAST past a 2.5. As college students, it is very, very important to us as a whole. Not only to graduate, but in order to get a good financial aid package the GPA has to be at least above a 3.0 (for most schools).
What can I do to raise my GPA?
I know this one is pretty generic but study. Studying does work for everyone, it’s just the way that you study may be different than others. Some changes could be rewriting class notes into your own format where you can understand the curriculum better. Making notes more colorful or color coordinated to create a pattern in your mind where it may be more memorable to you. If those two don’t help you much, maybe having a study group with friends would help you. Notice how I said with friends, this is very important because studying with people who are in your class may help but it may not be as memorable as if you were studying with your friends and helping each other out. Some may disagree with me on this point but as long as you choose the right friends to work with, your ability to recall that information should be increased.
What if I already study?
If you already study and you still do not understand the information, maybe it would be best for you to get help from someone you know. I know many people get tutors and such but, being someone who is not as comfortable with getting help from someone they don’t know, I can say that could be challenging and you may not even retain much information from the sessions. Your friends know you more than a stranger does and they may be able to put information into a way that you will understand and remember. If you study, and you know that you understand what you are studying but your grades are still slipping, the best thing for you to do at this point is to talk to your teacher/professor and try to see what the right steps may be to help you progress in that class. Sometimes having that talk is all you have to do to get a better understanding of the class or of what the teacher/professor wants from you.
Turn in ALL of your assignments
No matter if the assignment is too short or not fully edited, if the professor does not take late work at all, turn it in regardless. Why? Because you’d rather have a grade in the gradebook rather than a 0. For example, in one of my classes from my freshman year in college I remember one of my professors saying, “It takes three 100%’s to make a 0% to an 80%”. Now this may not be for all classes because it does depend on the professor but, that is a still a good amount of work to get done and the more you let work off, the more it piles up which puts more stress on you. More stress = sloppier work, fact.
These are just some of my personal tips on how I raised my GPA and obtained Dean’s List, I hope they can help you too!