My Understanding of the GPA and tips to raising yours:
Throughout highschool, the term GPA would occasionally appear in conversation and media, but I never sat down to learn exactly what it entails till I really needed it in my final years. A quick search taught me that the GPA is just a standard measure of how good you did in school. Learning how it worked, and what I needed to do to have a high GPA took a bit more reading, so I’d like to summarize my findings and how I maintained my GPA.
Every year, a final score is calculated from all your assignments, exams, and projects in each subject. These final scores are the basis of your GPA. Some conversions here and there are made but if you do well in coursework you can expect to have a high GPA.
So how do you do well in coursework? Other than your natural academic ability, there are some behaviors that I know will undoubtedly improve your performance. One of these is reading ahead. Learning a topic without a teacher can be tough, but if its just a cursory glance, it doesn’t take long and it pays dividends to your understanding of the topic when you do reach it. Another important thing is constantly refreshing your knowledge. Knowledge that goes stale may end up being replaced, so it’s always good to bring out those things you wish to remember once in a while. Rereading old topics or answering topic questions are good ways to do this.
Next I’ll talk about what worked for me specifically. These are things that may or may not help you but I still advise you to try. Scheduling myself and my study helped me focus on completing my assignments or revising a topic in predictable amounts of time. Putting a deadline on my work makes me devote all my energy to completing what I set out to do. Another thing is when I decide to do what. I feel like things stick better at night, leaving less mentally taxing activities like assignments to do in the morning and afternoon.
Now, I’ll go into what did not work at all for me. During my early exam weeks, I’d study for hours on end without a break, eventually I’d find myself reading the same textbook page 4 times over. Give yourself breaks. If you ever feel like what you’re doing, close the book, stretch, walk, do whatever for 5-20 mins and come back and take a crack at it again. Do not try to disregard, a subject you do bad in. This was me and English. I never managed to do as well in it as I did in most other subjects. If I did, my GPA could have been better, and I’d be able to put it to rest knowing I did all I could.
Whether you’re in university or trying to get into one, maintaining a high GPA is a universally recognized achievement. And as long as you truly wish to have that achievement, you will get it. Because tips and tricks only really work with dedication behind it.