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Your GPA defines you as a student, unfortunately.
Now, if you struggle with test grades then this will be your biggest challenge. Sadly, most professors and universities will not take into account students who struggle. They cannot change the testing system.
However, if you are one of those students, become best friends with your teacher. Utilize their email and their office hours. If they see you are trying and you don’t do as well on a test, they may be able to be more lenient in other things or offer extra credit. Sometimes it helps them decide if they should round you up from a B+ to an A-, but if you show you don’t care, they won’t change anything.
You must focus on your GPA. I am not saying to not have fun and to enjoy yourself, but your school work comes first. You are paying to be there, or your parents are, so you need to work for it.
As a freshmen, there’s lot of new stuff. You don’t have your parents around, you are living with someone new, you can go to parties, you can find people to get you stuff you shouldn’t have and you may want to do it all. But trust me, you will potentially regret it in the long run.
While you may not care for your GPA in the beginning so much, by the time you graduate, it will be too late. And once your GPA drops, it’s hard to bring it up. It’s so easy to drop your GPA, but to bring it back up, is a nearly impossible.
As an example, one semester I was a 3.78 GPA but due to family stuff, I got a B in one class and a B- in the other. Due to that my GPA tanked down to a 3.49. While that situation was beyond my control, I spend the rest of my college career working at the highest ability I could, and even going beyond that, to get it back up. After 2 full years of nearly straight A’s (a few A-‘s in there), I still only managed to get it back up to a 3.59. This is just an example to show how easy it is to go down and how difficult it is to go up.
While my story isn’t so extreme, it’s just one example of many.
In most universities, if you have a scholarship, if your GPA drops below a level, you will loose that money. Make sure you know that level and are always well above that area. You need to work hard in case of a life emergency when something happens. So if one semester you don’t do well due to unforeseen circumstances, all your other good semesters balance you out.
Your GPA will stay with you in the work place. It’s always a topic of conversation and something they ask in interviews. So even if you went to Harvard, but had a 2.0 GPA, they won’t take you over someone who maybe went to Monmouth University and got a 3.8 GPA. Your schools name isn’t always everything.
Keep that in mind, drill it in now, before it’s too late. Start off strong and keep strong. If you start off weak, it could be your worst decision.