My high school GPA, a number I have become very familiar with lately as I complete scholarship applications! When I started ninth grade, I honestly didn’t know exactly what to do to help increase my GPA, and I was definitely unsure of what career path I’d eventually want to pursue. My high school offers different levels for many different classes. The basic level is only worth one credit, then the academic level is worth 1.04 credit, and finally the honors level is worth 1.08 credits. There are also advanced placement classes, which are worth 1.12 credits. It took me until my sophomore year to truly understand how much these various credits can alter your GPA. Definitely my first big mistake was not challenging myself early on in high school, especially with my English classes, since this is my least favorite subject. I always took the academic version of English class, since I didn’t want to spend as much time on that class as my science and math courses. Even though I got excellent grades in these classes, I feel I could’ve increased my GPA even more if I took the higher level class and put in a little more effort.

In my sophomore year of high school, I really started to think about my future plans; and that’s when I knew I wanted to study robotics and/or electromechanical technology. Since I really enjoy math and science, I knew I’d really have to challenge myself by taking the higher level version of these classes. By taking honors classes, I was able to really boost my GPA; and by my junior year, I was ranked 15th in my class. Our school also offers Robotics and Computer-Aided Design classes, both of which offer three levels of credit. By starting these classes in 10th grade, I am now currently taking the highest level of both of these classes, which are both 1.08 credits. I also decided to take three advanced placement classes in my senior year, each of which are worth the highest credits. By doing this, and really putting forth a lot of effort in my senior year, I was able to increase my class rank from 15th to 10th.
One regret is that I wish I would’ve known to take these advanced placement classes in my junior year because this would’ve really helped me to increase my GPA even further.

The final thing I learned that hampered my GPA was taking what is called an academic prep class, which is basically a study hall. Since I am involved in many extracurricular activities and clubs, I thought it would be best if I had time during the school day to complete my homework. Unfortunately there is no credit when you have an academic prep class on your schedule; and looking back, I think I probably should’ve tried to take a class that would’ve at least earned me one credit rather than zero.