7 Reasons You Need To Have A Good GPA As A Student & How You Can

7 REASONS YOU NEED TO HAVE A GOOD GPA AS A STUDENT & HOW YOU CAN

Before I delve into why you should work hard to get a high GPA, let me explain what GPA itself means.

GPA is Grade Point Average which is a universal system used throughout the US and other countries to standardize the performance of students across a range of higher education courses.

But having a high GPA – north of 3.0 – is also a ticket to many other benefits in life, making it one of the most important metrics for excellent students out there. It is a clear picture of how serious a student had been with school studies.  Your GPA gives you an idea of how well you’ve improved or need to improve.       

If you want to score the maximum of 4.0/4.0 or 5.0/5.0, you have to get straight A’s in all your subjects or courses. This implies that you get higher than 70 or 80 percent on exams or final tests.

GPA is vital for all kinds of reasons, some expected, others not.    

In this article, I will let you know how important your GPA is and how it could affect your entire life. Not meaning to scare anyone though.

1. Your GPA Affects Your Ability To Get Scholarships

If you want to get a financial boost at university for music, art, science or something else, then you need to prove your worth. There are lots of scholarships but in most cases, there are stipulated grades required to obtain it. This is why you should aim at achieving a good GPA to be able to win a scholarship

It’s nothing personal: educational institutions often believe that the people with the highest grades are most worthy of their funds. It might not necessarily be true, but it’s how the system is set up. This video below will also give you some insights.

2. It Can Influence Your Applications To Clubs And Societies

If you want to take part in extra-curricular activities, some societies will want to see your final result first.

Why? Chances are that if you have a high GPA, you’re a diligent, committed and intelligent person that they want in their associations.

It is believed that if you couldn’t face your academics squarely to get the best out of it, you will likely not perform optimally in your clubs too. External distractions may take you off-course easily.

There’s an online community specially created for you to get all the motivation and vibes you need to succeed as a student.

Do you want to join this great community of students from all around the world?

Click here

3. It Can Get You Your First Job

When you’re freshly out of school with little or no previous work experience, the recruiter will likely look out for your school grades. Besides, some jobs require a particular bracket of GPA before you can be given an employment letter.

Most recruiters know that it’s a flawed yardstick to judge your skills. This is because a number of people with high GPAs end up doing mediocre work. Meanwhile, some other people with unimpressive GPAs end up excelling in their careers. 

The truth is, early in your career when there aren’t so many records to use for their personal judgment, therefore employers might use GPA as an indication of how well you will likely perform on the job.

In the end, your GPA speaks for you when you are not there to defend it.

4. Your Good GPA Improves Your Self-esteem

Do you know as a student, having a good GPA can boost your self-esteem and, of course, increase your mindset to achieving more goals as an individual? Yes! Yes! A very big yes to that.

I’m sure you might have experienced some sad moments when you find yourself among students like you talking about their good grades. You either try to change the subject matter or walk away with an excuse.

At that moment, your self-esteem begins to depreciate gradually. You need to first believe in yourself that you can have a good GPA. Never underestimate your abilities.  Those who do well academically don’t have two heads, they have just one too. That applies to other parts of their body, they have the same as you do. So say this to yourself – “I can do it”.

You need to work towards achieving your academic goals to keep you confident and happy. Honours and awards presented to you can be a game-changer in your records.

5. It Can be A Strong Basis For Recommendation

This is very vital when you need a recommendation from your past lecturers possibly to study further. I’m very sure you will be very happy to see him or her writing great things about your previous academic feats.

So, let your achievement speak your worth to people. You have a better chance of getting a job, scholarship or admissions through a detailed and well-written recommendation. It says a lot when someone vouches for you that you are the best fit for a job, scholarship, organization or other academic pursuits.

According to Mark Zuckerburg, “People influence people. Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influence people more than the best broadcasting message. A trusted referral is the holy grail of advertising”.

6. Your GPA Counts When Applying For Post-Grad Studies

You might think that your GPA ceases to be important once you finish your degree.

After all, shouldn’t the results from your degree determine whether you get a place on a post-grad course?

The problem comes from the fact that there are a lot of people applying for limited course places. Many of whom got firsts on their undergraduate degrees.

Universities have to make a decision somehow. So, they fall back on college GPAs when deciding between two candidates who otherwise look identical on paper.

7. It Affects Your Auto Insurance Premiums

If you get a State Farm auto quote as a student, you’ll quickly realize something: they offer a student discount. But what’s so strange about this discount is that it only applies if you have a GPA above 3.0.

In other words, you need to be a straight B student or higher to qualify.

Why would an auto insurance company care about your GPA?

Simple: your GPA tells them a lot about the risk that you represent. People with lower grades have, on average, more accidents and, therefore, have to pay higher premiums.

It’s just one of those small perks that could save you a fortune over the long term.

Here are things you can do to achieve a good GPA

1. Hard work

There is no other way to boost your GPA than to get to work. You need to study all the materials required and do personal research. Try as much as possible to attend all lectures, even the seemingly insignificant ones. There is a saying “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. To obtain your desired grade, you need to work hard.

2. Focus

Having the ability to achieve a goal or do better at something done before is the power of focus put to work. This is an attribute everyone should apply to life challenges and students are not exempted. As a student, you will certainly dive into diverse challenges such as difficulty in understanding a course, change of environment, difficult lecturer, missing scripts, miscalculation of your GPA by Exams and Records, pressure from peers etc.

The ability you need to manage all these is “Focus”. According to Venus Williams:  “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I will try to ignore the rest”. When a student has focus, every other thing that stands as a distraction will be easily spotted and acted upon as bait to attract success.

3. Resist Negative Influence

Get as much positive vibe as you can and shun all negative influences that comes your way. Let me share with you a similar experience I had during my first year in school. A senior coursemate shared some things I needed to know about my course of study and most were negatives vibes and statements such as “That lecturer is stingy with marks and his course is difficult to pass”. Other times, it is “That particular course is very hard” or “That lecturer always fails students”.

Immediately after I heard those words, I decided to prove those statements wrong. Even when a particular lecturer failed me, I knew it wasn’t my result and followed up with some enquiries. Finally, the lecturer admitted that it was a miscalculation.

I also experienced another instance where the reverse was the case.  I had a school daughter when I was in my 3rd year. She was just a first-year student.  It was my turn to advise a new student when she told me what her senior coursemate told her. She was advised to pay her lecturer as some did to pass. I told her to resist all negative advice and focus on her studies. Fortunately, she got a very good grade in that course.

4. Set Your Priority Right

This is another major way to remain on track with your goals. In school, aside from studies and other extracurricular activities, there are various social activities that might distract you. If you don’t set your priority right, this might affect your GPA.

I’m not against social activities, in fact, this might lead to networking opportunities but always remember that your first priority is to obtain a good GPA.

With that feat, there’s no doubt you will graduate with your course mates, make yourself proud and your parents/sponsor happy. It is also important to pray that God crowns your efforts with success as you study.

You also need to know how to calculate your GPA yourself so that you can measure and monitor your success. You are just like a hunter who wants to kill a particular animal and needs to focus and strategize on how to kill his desired animal.

How To Calculate Your GPA

Schools vary with the way they structure their GPA variables. Some attach specific credit units to courses depending on the depth and value of the course. For example, a four-credit course is more valued than a 2-credit course.  See the result of a student of English Language below:

Some other schools use the simple GPA method such as A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0.

To find your GPA weighted by credit hours follow these steps:

1. Multiply each numeric grade value by the number of credits the course was worth.
2. Add the numbers together to get a total sum.
3. Divide that total sum by total number of credits you took

It is important to know the rules and be guided while doing your calculation. A typical example is shown below:

Hence, the total score divided by your total credits will give you your GPA = 46.5/14 = 3.32

Let me give you this extra tip as a bonus.

3 QUOTIENTS YOU MUST KNOW

1. Intelligence Quotient

This is a way of measuring your intelligence and as a student. I encourage you to constantly try this. The intelligence of a person is determined by the total score of a written test divided by his age and multiplied by 100. Intelligence quotient helps you to know whether you need to put more effort into your studies or maintain the standard you have built already for yourself. It reveals the tactics of solving calculation, memorizing things and recalling subject matters.

2. Social Quotient

This is what makes people build a network of friends and maintain it over a long period of time. There’s a proverb that says “You want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far go with others”.  Not to worry, if you think you are not social and can’t build up a network of people, you can develop a social quotient by paying attention to details, who and what is around you. Be observant of different actions and conversation you have with people.

This will help you to identify those with the same interest and skills as you. Endeavour not to argue about someone else’s point before you listen to their entire views. Don’t be quick to judge, think about it later, then filter the words and retain what is beneficial to you. The impression you give to people matters a lot.

3. Emotional Quotient

The ability to manage emotions goes a long way in your studies. This makes you maintain peace with others, responsible, honest, respect boundaries, genuine and considerate.

Your emotional quotient also helps you to recognize and control your feelings such as anger and frustration in a social setting. This makes your study environment conducive for learning.

Bottomline

A person with a high GPA is much more likely to be considered for a scholarship than somebody with a low GPA. 

How hard have you been working on your studies? Let me know in the comment section 🙂