Discussion: Strategies for securing a high Grade Point Average (GPA)

[PJ]

Consider 2 scenarios of studying at a university. In both scenarios you put in the exact same amount of effort over time, but in one scenario you can yield a higher GPA. You don't have to study more, study harder, or take more classes. All you have to do is take the right courses at the right time.

The topic of grades is of interest to many students. Although the key to earning good grades is to excel in your classes, there are certain strategies that can help you boost your GPA at any given time. Having just graduated from a 4-year undergraduate degree at a public American university, I wanted to share one strategy that definitely helped me become more successful. By strategically planning the sequence of the courses you will take, it can have a substantial, positive impact on your GPA and success in finding a job.

Although a high GPA does not always guarantee success, it can get your foot in the door. The GPA is often a minimum requirement for being considered for grants, scholarships, internships, and job interviews. This means that if you don't have a good GPA, you may not qualify for the right opportunities no matter how good you are otherwise, and believe me, I've seen a number of cases where highly competent students come back from job fairs empty-handed, only because their GPA is not up to par with the company's requirement.

Therefore it is advisable to keep your GPA as high as possible.

...to be continued...

[warlock110]

i'm not a good student nor carrying good grades, but i do know how to get good grades, i just don't do them.

1) There's only a few type of class where you don't get good mark from just memorizing a bunch of stuff. These includes higher math, physics, a few others that require critical problem solving/thinking skills. If you're not great with them, then try to avoid them
2) consistancy, this is hard, but i don't believe in "accumulative work" or working out a plan of a school year, it's 1 class at a time, just take some times per day and study, i don't do it, but i know for sure this works. generally i cramp everything in a few hours and take the test, i pass them but rarely @ high marks.

That's pretty much it, I don't suggest taking easy class, it boost your accumulative GPA, but on application you can put ur major GPA ect... plus there's no easy class if you don't work @ it, most classes are VERY hard to get an A (which REQUIRE to boost any GPA), a B will only put you @ an even point (3.0). That pretty much eliminate any "easy".

[PJ]

The strategy is simple enough. It does, however, assume that you are fairly interested and competent in your field a priori. There are 3 components to this strategy:

#1. Take fewer courses at the beginning of your college experience, ESPECIALLY during your first semester when you are just settling in and are likely to face more uncertainties. I call this the "take it easy now so you can afford to screw up later" method. For my first 4 semesters, I took on average 12 or 13 credit hours, and my cumulative GPA at the end of 4 semesters was around 3.9 out of 4.0. I can assure you it would have been lower had my course load been heavier. From my observation, this approach has not been explored by students very much; perhaps students feel it is counter-intuitive since many of them want to "take it easy" during their final year, so they try to take more courses to start with. Or perhaps they want to establish a solid foundation early on by taking more courses. But in doing so, a great number of students I saw took a toll on their GPA. You should be more comfortable with the coursework after your first 2 years, and that's when you can afford to take 18 - 20 credit hours per semester.

This strategy is especially useful if you want to secure an internship or Co-OP in your first or second college summer. Every company is reluctant to hire a freshman when there are juniors and seniors available. How can you as a freshman compete with upperclassmen in the quest for a meaningful internship? You won't be able to compete with them in terms of coursework, but you can outclass them in terms of grades and experience. Keep your GPA as high as possible, and get some relevant experience as early as possible (preferably before college, but that is out of the scope of this paper).

When you look for a job, a lot of students (the good ones anyway!) will get job offers in the Fall preceding your year of graduation (e.g. if you graduate in May 2008, you will decide on a job offer in November 2007). This means that you will be using the GPA at the end of your junior year for your post-college job application (since the GPA for the current Fall semester is still in progress). It better be good. After you sign the offer, you can afford to slack off a little bit in your last 2 semesters (as long as you maintain the minimum required GPA for the job, which is usually 3.0 or 3.2). In this scenario, it's much more helpful if you have a better GPA early on than later, hence the "take it easy now, screw up later" method.

Similarly when you apply for graduate school, you will be using the GPA before your last semester. In my opinion the last semester of your college career is really the time which makes the most sense to do the heaviest course load and have the lowest GPA.

Remember: Keep your GPA as high as you can.


#2. When your GPA is in trouble, take a few GPA booster classes. I suggest taking some basic courses such as intro to anthropology, intro to philosophy, music appreciation, wine appreciation -- whatever your university has to offer that's easy to acquire an "A". Who knows, you could learn something interesting and meet interesting people.

Remember: Keep your GPA as high as you can.


#3. Be nice to people. It's more efficient to succeed with the help of people than on your own. Get to know your professors, your classmates, your counselor, the dean, etc. It's nice to be able to go to them for help when you need it, than to do everything on your own. When you hardly know your peers, they won't give you the inside scoop. Get to know them on a personal basis.

As a side note, Ride on the wave of your high GPA. Use your high GPA to achieve great things. Apply for grants, scholarships, and research funding. Use it to apply for paid internships. Once you have some success, build more success on top of it.

Remember: Keep your GPA as high as you can.

[PJ]

That's pretty much it, I don't suggest taking easy class, it boost your accumulative GPA, but on application you can put ur major GPA ect...

I find that in this day and age where organizations are evolving at a rapid pace, employers are increasingly paying more attention to the cumulative GPA. They want to hire well-rounded students who not only excel in one field, but have the potential to succeed in other areas. As departments get reorganized as a yearly basis, you as the employee may be placed throughout the company. It is to your advantage to be able to perform more than one type of job, and the company knows this.

And, even in your major there could be classes that are easier for you.

plus there's no easy class if you don't work @ it, most classes are VERY hard to get an A (which REQUIRE to boost any GPA), a B will only put you @ an even point (3.0). That pretty much eliminate any "easy".

On the contrary, I found that there are a number of classes in which it is quite easy to get an A. Only if you really decide to slack off would you get anything less. I'm talking about Humanities/Remedial courses such as "intro to anthropology, intro to philosophy, music appreciation, wine appreciation".

[warlock110]

I find that in this day and age where organizations are evolving at a rapid pace, employers are increasingly paying more attention to the cumulative GPA. They want to hire well-rounded students who not only excel in one field, but have the potential to succeed in other areas. As departments get reorganized as a yearly basis, you as the employee may be placed throughout the company. It is to your advantage to be able to perform more than one type of job, and the company knows this.

And, even in your major there could be classes that are easier for you.



On the contrary, I found that there are a number of classes in which it is quite easy to get an A. Only if you really decide to slack off would you get anything less. I'm talking about Humanities/Remedial courses such as "intro to anthropology, intro to philosophy, music appreciation, wine appreciation".

yeah, those things don't look good on the transcript, plus it depends on the school, most classes are graded on a bell curve, so essential an A = the top 15% of the class, it really doesn't depends on how good YOU are, rather it's more on how good your PEERs are lol, it's a *** up system but they use it for the shake of balance. Some people can keep a high GPA if they're devoted, it really comes down to work ethic, there's no tricks or tips about it.

I have not been to any other schools, but @ my school, the only way to graduate in 4 years with a normal schedule, we have to line up 16 credits per quarter, with about 2 quarters of 12 classes. There's always summer school and such, but it really leaves no room for mistakes, and with the schedule it's about 6 hours of school per day (3 classes with gaps and such), so it don't really leave enough time for work and such, there's always the hard worker, but most tries to manage to do the shcool without work.