Ways to Achieve 4.0 GPA

Ways to Achieve 4.0 GPA

Everyone knows about straight A students. We encounter 4.0 GPA students on a daily bases and we envy them because we want to be like them. How do they do it? What s their secret? Honestly, there is really no secret. Everyone is born with the same intellectual capacity. Some people just don t know how to manage their time nor know how to study. I, like many students, am one of them. I try really hard and study a lot hoping to get decent marks on my exams, yet I still do not get a mark that I am happy with. So I had to figure out ways to learn how to study effectively and boost my GPA. What seems to have helped many elite students achieve a 4.0 GPA is a healthy mindset, time management, learning to avoid distractions, and keeping stress level at an optimal rate. Let me walk you through this essay to explain how elite students get and maintain a 4.0 GPA. First and foremost, in order to succeed, not just in academics but life in general, a person needs to develop a healthy mindset. Having the correct mindset enables students to tackle challenges and allows them to work around failures. Therefore, success in all forms should be credited to a healthy mindset. Healthy mindsets propel people forward. Often when people hear the words hard work, their first thoughts are the infamous thoughts I can t do it so I m giving up. This mindset of theirs will draw them back and lead them to be unsuccessful. On the contrary, if they were to believe that they can accomplish anything with years of passion, toil, and training (Dweck, 2006), they will eventually get to where they want to be because this correct mindset allows to them enter a new world (Dweck, 2006). This helps them realize that in this world anyone can succeed, as long as they keep a positive mindset. Mindsets are just beliefs. They re powerful beliefs, but they re just something in your mind (Dweck, 2006). As said in this quote, you can always changes your mindset but this is the part where most students struggle. When it comes to mindset it's not something you want to play with. As I learned in Aleem s class, UGST, mindset makes about 85% of the total equation of success, followed by proven strategies, 10% and then effort which is only 5%. As Aleem said when students learn to apply this equation correctly, they will succeed in the majority of their classes. Here are some tips to develop a great mindset: ask your professors/ peers questions if you do not understand a concept. Taking risks is another great way to develop your cognitive stability because it helps you see things in different perspectives. Having a healthy relationship with family also helps to develop your mindset. Try to stay away from negative environments because such environments will only discourage you. Develop healthy habits and do your best to stick to them. Eat healthy, exercise and get enough sleep every night. These Little things play a huge role in the proper development of your mindset.

Moreover, to achieve success in university, students need to learn that adaptation plays a significant role. They need to understand that university is not like high school. The article How to get A s in College, explains that learning to manage your time prudently is the hardest transition for students from high school to university (Hundreds of Heads, 2007). In high school, your parents and teachers are constantly nagging you to do your homework and to do better in school. In university, most professors don't care about your results, they're just there to teach you and leave. Therefore, you have to take your learning into your own hands. Learning to manage your time is not an easy task but it is possible to achieve. I know this because I have been there myself and I have been successful. Studying your notes right after class is one of the hardest things to do but it really pays off in the end. Creating a daily or a monthly schedule that you can follow throughout the semester is one of the things that helped me the most with my time management. I make sure to use my energy wisely by completing successful habits (Aleem, UGST 1001 lec notes 2016). This prevents you from procrastinating and helps make your schoolwork your first priority. It also pushes you to get your work done on time and enables you to have time for non-school related activities. Another way in which university differs from high school is that the class sizes are larger, which means you're more likely to get lost and confused about what the professor is talking about. To help minimize this try to sit at the front of the class and put away all distractions (eg. cell phones, laptop, etc). This will force to keep eye contact with your professor which in turn will help you stay more focused. Also asking questions is vital for understanding and clearing up any doubts. I used to always ask myself why bother go to class if I m not going to get anything from it. There s no point on going to class and wasting my time when I could be doing something else. This was due to the fact that I didn t ask questions when I was confused, so I continued to be confused and that decreased my motivation to go to class. Now, however, I have learned to ask questions whenever I have the slightest doubt about anything. Another way in which university defers from high school is the time given to complete exams is much shorter, which means that you really have to manage your time well. For example, I remember in high school we had 2 hours to write an exam whereas in university, we only had 50 minutes to complete it. It was a struggle at the beginning but it teaches you to know your material thoroughly so you don t contemplate questions during the exam, thus saving precious time. Time is one of the most important factor because once you're time is gone you can never get it back.

Figure 1: Getting yourself into the studying zone is a hard thing to do for a student. I m one those students who leaves everything to the last minute because I m too comfortable in my environment. If you're like me then one thing that will help you is to get yourself stressed. Most of us think being stressed is such a bad thing but researchers have shown that as stress level increases, performance rises to an optimal point, but if stress continues to increase, eventually performance and efficiency decline (Benson & Casey, 2007). According to the stress level graph, the optimal point is 7.5. When you re stress is below 7.5 your performance level declines because you re too relaxed, thus causing you to procrastinate more. When it s above 7.5 it can lead to anxiety and panicking which makes you worry more about your tests or assignments without actually being productive. You should know how to deal with both stressful and non-stressful situations. Knowing exactly how you're affected by stress will make you more aware of your personal stress warning signs early so you can try to put the brakes on unnecessary stress responses. Here are some tips to handle your stress level and get to the optimal zone and stay in that zone. When you re unstressed, hang out with friends, who use their stress as motivation, this will help increase your motivation and stressfulness to an optimal level. Making yourself a schedule to follow, will help you stay on track and stay motivated. Write a list of items that are due soon and mark down the soft and hard deadlines. If you are normally a stressed out person then start eating healthy, exercise regularly and nurturing yourself by creating healthy habits. It is also

important to set aside time to socialize, relax, connect with others, pursue activities that add joy to your life and learning various techniques that elicit the relaxation response, such as breath focus and guided imagery (Benson & Casey,2007). Figure: 2 Another way to achieve the grades you want in university is by not only going to class but paying attention to the lecture. Most students including me just go to class because they have too or because they paid for it. This one class I went to everyday and every time I got out of class I felt like I hadn t learned anything. When the midterm comes, I had so much to learn and I had to re-teach myself all the material because I didn't know how to pay attention in class. Here are a few things that I have learned to help me concentrate better in class. First thing, before you go to class preview the materials, professors will have posted them, if not look through your textbook. This usually will take about 10-15 mins. You're not learning anything here; you're just familiarizing yourself with the materials. During class, filter the content that your teacher is teaching. Always ask yourself how could this be tested in a exam?. Take notes on the important materials only and pay careful attention to what the professor is emphasizing (Hundred of Heads, pg 63). That material could be tested. Smart students understand early on that they don t go to class to learn. They go there simply, to absorb the professors; that's where I made the mistake. I didn't realize until it was a little too late that all I do in class is daydream or sleep. After class is done review the materials within 24h, this will ensure that the material is stored your long term

memory, where you won't forget it. If it s not reviewed than it s considered lost information, where you re probably going to teach it to yourself later on. So do it when it is fresh and it takes less time. Review the concepts a few times with groups or teach it to someone. This helps to retain the information much better. Skimming through materials on the day of exam helps to bring back the information to immediate memory. Refer to Figure 2, this concept is one the hardest thing to fellow but once you adopt it and follow it thoroughly, honestly your grades will change drastically. In my opinion, distractions play a huge role in decreasing our chance of getting a good grade in university. Distractions includes noises from people talking, your phone alerts, TV, music, facebook and Instagram. Learn how and when to use these items. Set yourself some time to use your device. Distraction also comes from internally, from things like fatigue, hunger, worries, stress and other distracting thoughts. As mentioned in the above paragraphs, if you can prevent this from happening, it will increase your chances of doing well and handing your assignments on time and thus giving you more free time. Don't put in your head that you can study while watching TV and being on your phone. That is the worst way to go, speaking from experiences. When it comes to studying, multitasking is ineffective. While it may seem like multitasking would be a good thing, research has shown that people who are multitask are not doing two things at the same time. Instead, they are switching back and forth quickly between tasks. The result of this movement is that performance suffers on both tasks, and people who multitask are less likely to remember information later on (Mokhtari, Dellelo & Reichard, 2015, p.167). There may be other areas of our lives where multitasking is useful; however, studying and problem solving require deep concentration, and interruptions and distractions make it harder to focus and decrease your chances of recalling information later. Here are some tips to avoid distraction, put away all obvious distractions (laptop, phone, etc). Make a choice or commitment to a certain period of time studying without those distractions. Then reward yourself after. Find a comfortable and quiet place where you can study. Identify your distractions, this way you know what s exactly distracting you and you can try to limit this from happening. If you lose focus when studying in one way for a long time, change the way you study. Try studying in one way for 30-40 minutes and then study using a different strategy. The variety can help refresh your focus. Take a break when studying. Unfocused studying can be a sign that you need a short break prior to trying to refocus. Distraction also occurs from being under stressed, when your stress level is below the optimal point, your automatically is going to put your in the distraction zone. As mentioned previously, when you're at the optimal point, distraction and procrastination will go away naturally.

In conclusion, getting a 4.0 GPA is not a piece of cake but following a few of those tips will help you get there. These methods will also help you develop strategies that work for you and ensure that you will succeed. Your mindset is the most important tool you can have, when it comes to your success. Developing a healthy mindset will make everything so much easier, so you will only have to use minimal effort and good strategies. Try to not fall in the I know already trap, as there are always many layers to learning. Be opening minded when it comes to going to classes and learning. Open minded people in general tend to succeed more in life, not just in school because they have the capacity to listen to the wisdom of their peers. Second is adaptation. Adapting to a new environment is hard for anyone not just academic students. Who wants to leave their comfortable/ safe zone to a new area? Especially for first year students it s hard to adjust from high school to university. Learn the difference that you're not in high school anymore. This teaches you that you must learn to manage your time effectively in order for you to succeed. Try keeping daily, weekly and monthly agendas so you can manage your energy at an ideal level. Daily agendas will help make sure you do not waste any time throughout your day. Furthermore, find yourself an optimal stress point. As research mentions, having an optimal stress level will increase the chances of you doing well in your performances. The stress zone decreases your chance of being distracted and procrastinating. As I mention before, following figure 2 thoroughly changed my grades. I was getting B s and C s in my first midterm but during the second midterm I learned to follow the class cycle exam which made me achieve A s in all my classes.

Annotated Bibliography Benson H, Casey A (2007). Untitled. In, Stress Management Approaches for Preventing and Reducing Stress (pg.1-30). Stamford, Connecticut: Harvard Health Publications. As the title of the article state, this article gives some tips on how stress is arise and how to manage it. Dweck, C (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential. Retrieved on March 29, 2016 from http://experiencelife.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/mindset.pdf This article talks about fixed and growth mindset. It goes into explaining the negative effect of having fixed mindset and how to change it and develop a growth mindset. Hundreds, O. H. (2007). How to Get A's in College : Hundreds of Student-Tested Tips. Atlanta, GA, USA: Hundreds of Heads Books. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com This article gives some tips on to how manage your time, and also states the differences between high school to university. It also talks about how to choose the right course and what to do when you fail a course. Mokhtari, K., Delello, J., & Reichard, C. (2015). Connected yet distracted: Multitasking among college students. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 45(2), 164. This article explains when you're multitasking, you're not accomplishing nether of those tasks. It further explains that when multitasking you is wasting more time and energy to completing the task but also completing it wrong.