Excuse me if this sounds like a brag, but I need to qualify myself; I have a high GPA. And, while I’d hate to be one of those people, I have always had a high GPA. I’ve been balancing a 4.00 since middle school. I am now a junior in college.
Now, I genuinely do not support this course of action. Live your life! Don’t get caught up in an insane balancing act that at its core depends on teachers’ arbitrary will and your free time. However, as a future graduate school applicant, I understand the importance of keeping high grades. I am sure any potential applicant does!
So, how do you keep a Pristine Transcript? How do you pick yourself up from a low GPA?
Read on for all my tips.
Easy Points
Just like any game, school is about accumulating all the points possible. Don’t let yourself miss easy points. By this I mean, do all the busy work, always complete opportunities to get points back, and always do extra credit.
I find lots of students will disregard tiny assignments because they feel like a waste of time. They are a waste of time, but they are also a waste of points. Completing small tasks for a handful of points may mean that a future low test grade won’t hurt as much or you can afford to write a mid paper. When you safeguard your grade with easy points, you can take bigger chances with overwhelming assignments.
For example, I went to an extra credit event. Now, I have five extra points on my next big essay grade for that class. My essays have been lackluster lately, so I safeguarded that grade. I took 30 minutes to listen to a guest speaker and now I can spend 2 or so less hours on my essay.
Complete easy work for easy points. It’s worth it.
Teacher Communication
Hopefully it is obvious that good relationships are crucial to good grades. It’s not like your teacher likes you so they inflate your grade (that only happens in movies I hope) but it is important to have a mutual respect. Although most teachers will help the disconnected, impolite or absent student, most teachers won’t want to.
I have never been a small-talk, buddy-buddy, person with teachers. I grew up in a very traditional home โ friends’ parents were Mr. and Mrs., adults should be silently listened to and obeyed, and teachers were always to be respected. Talking to a professor casually still messes with my brain.
However, what I will do is: greet the teacher coming to class or say a “thank you” leaving class, raise my hand to answer questions, nod along with lectures (I get distracted too, I am no god), follow up after class, email when I miss class, and just show general concern. This, at minimum, establishes to your teacher that you care. Professors help students that care โ they reconsider grades, provide helpful feedback, and empower you to do well academically.
You don’t have to be teachers’ pet, but teacher relationships are incredibly helpful. If you actually enjoy the teacher or class, it may be worth digging a little deeper. Show up to office hours! Make a connection. We all need recommendation letters, and it’s a lot more natural to request one from someone you know and respect.
Resources
Okay, so you’ve racked up all the easy points, you got to know your teacher and you are facing a difficult assignment. Don’t worry. Your grade will be padded by the easy points and you can reach out to your teacher for help, which you totally should.
Also, tap into campus resources. Make an appointment with the writing center for an essay. Reach out to classmates for clarification. Talk to upperclassman, perhaps someone who has been in your place before. Some teachers will even read rough drafts! They will literally tell you how to get an A.
Get help until you feel better than when you started!
Studying (the right way)
I study so much, why am I not doing well? I despise breaking this to you, but you may not be studying the right way (I’m looking at you note re-writers). Here’s the harsh truth, if what you’re doing isn’t working, then there is probably an error in your methods. Now, this is only true if things are not working out across classes, across a subject, or if you are doing poorly in a class other people are succeeding in. You are not always to blame!
Mix things up! Try different study tactics on small assignments and scale them up for tests. Better yet, find a successful student in the area of study and ask them for their study routine. It is even worth paying a tutor if just to learn their study habits.
Don’t get me wrong, it is uncomfortable to try new strategies, but if you don’t adapt, you won’t change your grades.
I study differently based on the subject! Here are some of my favorite strategies.
Reading Heavy Courses (I.E. philosophy):
- re-reading sections of the assigned texts
- asking myself practice questions on a given text
- writing practice short answers or essays
- scanning and annotating a text
Memory Heavy Courses (I.E. anatomy):
- flashcards flashcards flashcards
- memory games
- practice quizzes
- mapping terms
- blurting
- explaining concepts to a friend from memory
Graph/Visual/Formula Heavy Courses (I.E. statistics):
- writing and re-writing
- working sequentially through a unit
- applying knowledge through practice problems
- linking concepts
Don’t Let Grades Touch the Ground
I have been asked on occasion how I keep my grades up. I compare it to a game of “don’t let the balloon touch the ground.”
When you sense risk, like when you see that ballon hover closer and closer to the floor, dive! When you receive a poor grade, email the teacher immediately for clarification, help, or suggestions for how to do better next time. When you miss a deadline, rush to set a reminder for next time and follow up with an email explaining the delay to your professor. When you miss class, reach out for work to make-up or grab notes from a friend. Stay on course. Keep the balloon in the air.
The unfortunate truth is, having a high GPA means asking a lot of yourself. The fortunate truth is, we are all capable of hard things.