How to raise gpa and get 4.0s? Inspiration, Encouragement

[Mary35]

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Well I just finished my sophomore year with a 3.0 bringing me to a 3.1 cumulative. 🙁 I'm so frustrated with myself and I am in need of help. This year was the worst of my academic career. The fall of this year I got a 2.95 and the spring I got 3.0. C's in A&P lab and C+ in orgII. I know that I want to be a physician, but I know it takes more than rainbows and fairy dust to get in. In the beginning of the spring semester I was anticipating an A in A&P( i was scoring in that range) and B+ in org. But in the end everything slipped out of hands. I think I waited to late to prepare and didn't space out my timing for all my class. I know time management is an issue for me. But yeah any advice. Be as honest as possible and any strategy is well come.

Other activities
I started doing research
I work at school
I'm doing a premed program in the summer
I plan on volunteering in the fall

Thanks!

 

[NeuResurgens]

Well I just finished my sophomore year with a 3.0 bringing me to a 3.1 cumulative. 🙁 I'm so frustrated with myself and I am in need of help. This year was the worst of my academic career. The fall of this year I got a 2.95 and the spring I got 3.0. C's in A&P lab and C+ in orgII. I know that I want to be a physician, but I know it takes more than rainbows and fairy dust to get in. In the beginning of the spring semester I was anticipating an A in A&P( i was scoring in that range) and B+ in org. But in the end everything slipped out of hands. I think I waited to late to prepare and didn't space out my timing for all my class. I know time management is an issue for me. But yeah any advice. Be as honest as possible and any strategy is well come.

Other activities
I started doing research
I work at school
I'm doing a premed program in the summer
I plan on volunteering in the fall

Thanks!

Why did everything slip out of your hands? Did you not understand the material? Did you not study enough/sacrifice study time for other things? Identifying your weaknesses is the best strategy for improving your grades. You need to find what it was that caused you to do poorly. You didn't go into much detail about what you thought went wrong, so I can't help you a whole lot in suggesting study methods. If you could offer a little more about what you did in your classes, we could be more specific in our advice!

 

[Nucleophile1]

Hey, it looks like you identified some of your weak points, so you should start working on those! To prevent cramming, study periodically throughout the semester and formulate a study plan for the week prior to the test. Don't just sit down planning to study; select certain chapters/assignments that you plan to work on. As for spacing, put all of your class/volunteering/research into Google Calendar. It will help you figure out your schedule.

You need to approach each class differently rather than trying to study the same way for each class. For example, when studying orgo, it's really helpful to do practice problems over and over. However, when studying bio, it's better to quiz yourself. Figure out which study method works for you. To prevent procrastination, I set time schedules for myself. I'll study orgo for an hour, and then move on to a different topic. When that hour is up, I make myself move on even if I was on Buzzfeed or YouTube half the time. After doing that for a couple days, I became more efficient and focused when studying.

 

[Mary35]

Why did everything slip out of your hands? Did you not understand the material? Did you not study enough/sacrifice study time for other things? Identifying your weaknesses is the best strategy for improving your grades. You need to find what it was that caused you to do poorly. You didn't go into much detail about what you thought went wrong, so I can't help you a whole lot in suggesting study methods. If you could offer a little more about what you did in your classes, we could be more specific in our advice!

Basically I kind of underestimated my bio and org final and focused my time on the essays that I had do (finals is what dropped my grade). I spent more time on my writing class than working in org and bio. Me not studying enough is what effected my performance. For example as far as studying, if I have three exams (bio, org, lab) I would focus in on the bio and spend most of my time on it and the other exams would suffer. My problem is not having a real plan and then if there is i do not fully sticking to it. Then I just overwhelmed and spend time on thing. Managing time, because I just don't get how to balance everything, if org or bio was by it self I think I would do better, but it comes down to managing both.

 

[Mary35]

Hey, it looks like you identified some of your weak points, so you should start working on those! To prevent cramming, study periodically throughout the semester and formulate a study plan for the week prior to the test. Don't just sit down planning to study; select certain chapters/assignments that you plan to work on. As for spacing, put all of your class/volunteering/research into Google Calendar. It will help you figure out your schedule.

You need to approach each class differently rather than trying to study the same way for each class. For example, when studying orgo, it's really helpful to do practice problems over and over. However, when studying bio, it's better to quiz yourself. Figure out which study method works for you. To prevent procrastination, I set time schedules for myself. I'll study orgo for an hour, and then move on to a different topic. When that hour is up, I make myself move on even if I was on Buzzfeed or YouTube half the time. After doing that for a couple days, I became more efficient and focused when studying.

Thanks!
I've done a lot of cramming, which not right. I am going to try this. How do you recommend studying for physics. Thats what I am taking in the fall. As far as periodically you mean constantly bringing back old info?

 

[Mary35]

Thanks for the response
Basically I kind of underestimated my bio and org final and focused my time on the essays that I had do (finals is what dropped my grade). I spent more time on my writing class than working in org and bio. Me not studying enough is what effected my performance. For example as far as studying, if I have three exams (bio, org, lab) I would focus in on the bio and spend most of my time on it and the other exams would suffer. My problem is not having a real plan and then if there is i do not fully sticking to it. Then I just overwhelmed and spend time on thing. Managing time, because I just don't get how to balance everything, if org or bio was by it self I think I would do better, but it comes down to managing both.

 

[Nucleophile1]

Thanks!
I've done a lot of cramming, which not right. I am going to try this. How do you recommend studying for physics. Thats what I am taking in the fall. As far as periodically you mean constantly bringing back old info?

I have yet to take physics, am taking it this fall, but if your teacher focuses on math problems, do practice problems over and over until you figure out the patterns and can solve them no matter what. If your teacher focuses on vocab, create flashcards and/or quizzes for yourself, and test yourself. You can often find other quizzes online as well to further test yourself. When I say periodically, I mean study the material the day its covered instead of waiting until the last minute. Additionally, keep reviewing older material as the test approaches. That way, it's fresh in your mind and the continuous studying reinforces the material

 

[NeuResurgens]

Basically I kind of underestimated my bio and org final and focused my time on the essays that I had do (finals is what dropped my grade). I spent more time on my writing class than working in org and bio. Me not studying enough is what effected my performance. For example as far as studying, if I have three exams (bio, org, lab) I would focus in on the bio and spend most of my time on it and the other exams would suffer. My problem is not having a real plan and then if there is i do not fully sticking to it. Then I just overwhelmed and spend time on thing. Managing time, because I just don't get how to balance everything, if org or bio was by it self I think I would do better, but it comes down to managing both.

Looks like you've done some productive introspecting, which is great. Managing multiple exams and multiple assignments from one class is one of the most difficult (and most important) parts of academics. Underestimating classes can definitely lead you to place imbalanced emphasis on certain classes when you're forced to choose between them.

Streamlining your study may help with this. Sometimes you "study," but there is a more efficient way you could be studying which would both save you time for other classes and help you remember the material better. For example, reading the text as preparation for the exam might take a lot of time, but because it's dense with complex wording, you might not get as much out of it as you would by re-reading the notes you wrote in class (which probably will be more representative of what the professor wants to test you on, while the book casts a larger net over more topics). Reading the notes will take less time and focus more on important topics for the class. Additionally, different subjects may require different study styles due to the nature of the material (for example, organic chemistry = practice problems, anatomy = memorizing, etc.)

 

[Doudline]

Pledge 10k to the charity you hate the most; you only get it back if you have a 4.0 at the end of the semester.
That'll get your priorities straight.

 

[deleted577188]

There are way too many threads asking about how to get better grades. I guess it's just that time of year...

 

[ski89]

Thanks!
I've done a lot of cramming, which not right. I am going to try this. How do you recommend studying for physics. Thats what I am taking in the fall. As far as periodically you mean constantly bringing back old info?

I have a few suggestions.

1. Do a search of this forum for efficient or effective study techniques and habits. the subject has been covered many many times so you will find some great info.

2. You say your problem is time management. Sounds to me like you need to treat your classes more like a job. This is something that helped me. What this means is from 8am-5pm you are at work. During this time you should be going to class, studying, perhaps some research or volunteering too on certain days. Of course it's important to take short breaks for studying to keep your mind fresh, but you should be able to get in at least 5 hours a day of studying. And this is baseline studying by the way. When you have an exam in the next few days, you will be fitting in more time at night.

With a 3.0 and only 2 years left you really need to start getting 4.0s. But I truely believe that anyone smart enough to get into a four year university can get 4.0s if they treat their education like a job.

3. On another note, you mentioned that your finals got away from you. The best way to combat this problem is doing your best to make your finals matter as little as possible. How do you do this? Crush the first midterms in all your classes. Treat the first few weeks of class like finals week. Starting with a 95% on the first midterm sets you up for success and minimizes stress for future exams. In addition, by pushing yourself early in the semester you are actually significantly reducing the amount of finals studying you will have to do because you will know the oldest material so well. It was often the case for me that I would go into the final only needing an 80% or so to keep my A. And the funny part was, I usually ended up doing quite well on the final without too much studying because I put the work in during the semester.

4. You asked about physics. The key is practice problems. Often times you have have weekly homework assignments of some kind. You should be getting 100% on these assignments. If you can't solve a HW problem, get help at TA office hours. If you master the homework you will likely master the exams because the hw problems are usually more complex than the exam problems. For me, physics and math was all about doing problems and seeking help when I was struggling with a particular problem set.


Lastly, if being a physician is your dream you are going to have to make sacrifices. You have dug yourself a bit of a hole with that 3.0, but it's not too deep. if you want this bad enough, it's within reach. Good luck!

 

[Mary35]

I have yet to take physics, am taking it this fall, but if your teacher focuses on math problems, do practice problems over and over until you figure out the patterns and can solve them no matter what. If your teacher focuses on vocab, create flashcards and/or quizzes for yourself, and test yourself. You can often find other quizzes online as well to further test yourself. When I say periodically, I mean study the material the day its covered instead of waiting until the last minute. Additionally, keep reviewing older material as the test approaches. That way, it's fresh in your mind and the continuous studying reinforces the material

Will do thank you so much

 

[Mary35]

Looks like you've done some productive introspecting, which is great. Managing multiple exams and multiple assignments from one class is one of the most difficult (and most important) parts of academics. Underestimating classes can definitely lead you to place imbalanced emphasis on certain classes when you're forced to choose between them.

Streamlining your study may help with this. Sometimes you "study," but there is a more efficient way you could be studying which would both save you time for other classes and help you remember the material better. For example, reading the text as preparation for the exam might take a lot of time, but because it's dense with complex wording, you might not get as much out of it as you would by re-reading the notes you wrote in class (which probably will be more representative of what the professor wants to test you on, while the book casts a larger net over more topics). Reading the notes will take less time and focus more on important topics for the class. Additionally, different subjects may require different study styles due to the nature of the material (for example, organic chemistry = practice problems, anatomy = memorizing, etc.)

Thats so true. I would take me hours to study one thing and I wouldn't have any time left for others. Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Mary35]

I have a few suggestions.

1. Do a search of this forum for efficient or effective study techniques and habits. the subject has been covered many many times so you will find some great info.

2. You say your problem is time management. Sounds to me like you need to treat your classes more like a job. This is something that helped me. What this means is from 8am-5pm you are at work. During this time you should be going to class, studying, perhaps some research or volunteering too on certain days. Of course it's important to take short breaks for studying to keep your mind fresh, but you should be able to get in at least 5 hours a day of studying. And this is baseline studying by the way. When you have an exam in the next few days, you will be fitting in more time at night.

With a 3.0 and only 2 years left you really need to start getting 4.0s. But I truely believe that anyone smart enough to get into a four year university can get 4.0s if they treat their education like a job.

3. On another note, you mentioned that your finals got away from you. The best way to combat this problem is doing your best to make your finals matter as little as possible. How do you do this? Crush the first midterms in all your classes. Treat the first few weeks of class like finals week. Starting with a 95% on the first midterm sets you up for success and minimizes stress for future exams. In addition, by pushing yourself early in the semester you are actually significantly reducing the amount of finals studying you will have to do because you will know the oldest material so well. It was often the case for me that I would go into the final only needing an 80% or so to keep my A. And the funny part was, I usually ended up doing quite well on the final without too much studying because I put the work in during the semester.

4. You asked about physics. The key is practice problems. Often times you have have weekly homework assignments of some kind. You should be getting 100% on these assignments. If you can't solve a HW problem, get help at TA office hours. If you master the homework you will likely master the exams because the hw problems are usually more complex than the exam problems. For me, physics and math was all about doing problems and seeking help when I was struggling with a particular problem set.


Lastly, if being a physician is your dream you are going to have to make sacrifices. You have dug yourself a bit of a hole with that 3.0, but it's not too deep. if you want this bad enough, it's within reach. Good luck!

Wow !! Thank You! Thats a great analogy, I going to do this, I need to do this. Thanks again

 

[KilluaZoldyck]

Pledge 10k to the charity you hate the most; you only get it back if you have a 4.0 at the end of the semester.
That'll get your priorities straight.

You sly devil, we think alike.
Even if you get "B", you didn't get your money's worth out of the class.