How to Raise Your GPA

Manage your time efficiently as you plan your college semester.

Earning a high grade-point average in college will reap many benefits after graduation. It will increase your chances of getting into graduate school, securing a well-paying job and winning scholarships. Strategies for raising a lackluster GPA range from better study habits to more efficient time management.

Instructions

1. Print out and examine your college record.

2. Decide whether to retake the courses in which you earned poor grades. At most schools, the new grade replaces the original grade when you retake courses.

3. Attend summer school at either a community college or your home school. Summer classes tend to be less strenuous than fall and spring classes. You may find you'll be more relaxed and have more time to study for classes.

4. Register carefully for classes and research the professors who teach them. Ask former students about the professors and check out the website RateMyProfessors.com. Some colleges post each class's grade distribution; see if you can get your hands on such information to determine the difficulty of courses.

   Also, balance your load. Don't take too many hard classes in one semester, and avoid taking more than the recommended load. In addition, don't schedule too many of your courses back-to-back.

5. Consider registering for classes as pass/fail so your GPA won't suffer. If you later find that you can ace the class, you usually have until November of the fall term and April of the spring term to switch to a graded basis.

6. Drop classes that you think you will fail. You have until November for fall and April for spring to drop a course. Although you will get a "W" notation on your transcript, W's look a lot better than D's or F's.

7. Speak with the professor before dropping the class. Some professors offer extra credit, paper rewrites and even test do-overs to help their students pass. No professor wants a student to fail.

8. Re-evaluate your study habits and determine if there's room for improvement. Try studying for about 45 minutes at a time and then take a break. Organize a study group, review your notes after each class or look into campus tutoring.

9. Reassess your test-taking skills. Make sure that you scan the whole exam before you begin. You should knock off the easier questions first before moving on to more challenging parts. Improved test taking means higher scores and a better GPA.

Tips & Warnings

• Look at your professors as friends rather than adversaries.

• Speak with a dean who helps struggling students.

• Never be afraid to ask for help.

• If you retake a class and do worse, both grades remain on your transcript. So do better the second time.

References

• Penn State Altoona: 60 ways to improve your GPA

Resources

• Rate My Professors