tempus

What is the most popular method of having a 3.9+ cumulative GPA?

1) going to a ****-easy community college
2) bribing teachers
3) going to a school that awards A+s (speaking of which, I've never heard of any) and getting some A+s to balance out lower scores
4) becoming a robot

And if none of the above apply to you, answer these questions: what school do you go to and what do you major in? Is your major considered one of the more difficult ones at your school? Plus, is your school notorious for grade inflation? How many classes do you take a semester, and what are your significant non-academic activities, if any? Where would you consider yourself percentile-wise in your school in terms of academic intelligence (not necessarily reflected in grades)?

bluedevilmike

Plenty of schools award A+'s -- in fact, I'm betting the vast majority do. Very few of them will count them into your GPA, but that doesn't matter, because LSAC will calculate them as long as they show up on the transcript.

jonri

A few years ago, Harvard Law reported that 12% of its incoming class had gpa's over 4.0, so obviously there are some schools out there that give grades of A+. Don't worry if yours doesn't, though.

chocoman

did you also post that on top-law-schools.com?

HealinOTheNation

Study something you love.

mohammad wong

I go to a top 40, grade-deflating college and have a 3.92 cumulative GPA. It's not impossible, but it requires more than smarts. You need to work very hard. Most tests are specifically designed to see exactly how carefully you read. For most of my classes, it's easy to gloss over the readings and get solid Bs, but there are always a few questions or ideas that will only be knowable if you read EVERYTHING and constantly think critically about the concepts. Of course, this method is the only way to get straight As. This may seem intuitive, but a lot of kids don't do it like this.

edit: My major, political science, is definitely not the hardest major on campus but not the easiest, either. The average GPA for the students in the major is a 3.1, about 2.8 for Intro classes. I took one class last semester where 50% of the students got Cs or lower. I work for the student newspaper, which takes up about 10-15 hours a week. That's my only EC right now. I took 14 credits last semester, 14 before that and 15 my first semester.

I'd estimate I'm in the top 10% in terms of intelligence in my class. I got one A+ last year but I transfered to a more competitive school this year which doesn't award A+ grades. Even though it's much tougher here, I got a 4.0 last semester, which is awesome. Once you take a few college classes you begin to understand how they work, what they test for and how you should think about the material.

Saxonthebeach6

I also go to a school that is notoriously competitive and difficult. I'm a sophomore double majoring in bioengineering and economics, and while my GPA is below a 3.9 (I have a 3.81), I believe the difference is nearly negligible and hope that my insight is applicable.

Three things are required to get a high GPA: intelligence, determination, and time management. As Mohammad Wong said above, intelligence alone won't get you a 3.9 - you need to actively learn and stay on top of your courses. But one also has to take time into account, for it's very difficult to maintain a high GPA when you are always stressed out and tired. If you don't allocate your time efficiently, you will be forced to stay up into the wee hours of the night just to finish your homework sets. Add on to this studying for midterms, researching, working out, going to office hours, and the countless other activities college students partake in, and you have yourself an extremely busy schedule. Don't bite off more than you can chew, and always try to save yourself some free time during the day. Take it from me, engineering is pretty much as rough as they come. I've seen far too many engineers overwork themselves to the point of depression and/or physical illness.

And now a little about myself...I wouldn't consider myself a genius, but I would peg myself in the top 15% of my class based on rough intelligence. The trick to my "success" is, as you can probably guess, time management. Over the course of my college career I've taken 14, 16, 18, and 14 units of mostly technical courses. I also took summer school twice (which I highly recommend). I also find time to partake in social activities. I'm an avid golfer, an officer in an organization, a frequent gym-goer (try to go daily, but it's hard!), and a research assistant. I also allocate at least two hours a day of free time.

I guess my main point is...manage your time!

futurenyustudent

You can be like me and work study until your brain turns into mush and starts oozing out of your ears.

I don't know if NYU's notorious for grade inflation, but it certainly isn't easy to get an A. I'm working my butt off and still getting As and Bs. While it's not horrible, it's still not fantastic. I'm just hoping for my GPA to be good enough to get into a top5 law school. Yes, I know, I'm setting myself up for failure.

I'm also trying to find part time work for next year. And possibly take 5 classes.

chocoman

Three suggestions I have is to get a full night's sleep everynight, don't drink too much and don't date.

It may be hard to get all of your reading done and still be able to get to bed by 12, so you need to learn to work efficiently. I stopped watching TV and saw my productivity skyrocket - from the amount of time I can pay attention in class to the number of pages I can read with good recall. Now the only thing I will ever watch on TV are the Phillies baseball games on the weekend.

Drinking is a fun activity. However, spending the first half of Saturday hung over and throwing up isn't. The business hours of the weekend need to be productive time as well, so certainly drink when you want, but do so in moderation so you don't get sick.

Dating is stressful and time-consuming. Expensive if you're a boy. nuff said.

While I don't have a 3.9 overall (I only have a 3.7), my last half at College has been a combined 3.94. Those semesters consisted of working part-time as well as taking a more than a full courseload (6 classes each semester).

My first three semesters were spent boozing and chasing girls and I have the grades (3.52 combined) to reflect that. Now I am a lean machine hoping to raise my overall to a 3.8 before law school time.

EDIT: I've painted myself as a total nerd here. I do go out to dinner with friends a few times a week, I watch a lot of movies, read the newspaper everyday, go to parties on the weekend. But I still get up at 8 am on Saturdays and Sundays to try to start working early.

DOUBLE EDIT: My school offers massages at the health clinic for 20 dollars. They are really good to get - they reduce stress and make you more productive. I usually get one the week of midterms.

Rob54

My school gives A-'s with only count for 3.7, but no A+'s. I hope that doesn't hurt me down the stretch.

bluedevilmike

I have a classmate who achieved a 4.3 in two very hard majors and one pretty-hard major. He was brilliant -- easily the smartest kid in our class and now a Rhodes Scholar -- and worked all the time. He was my next door neighbor, so I knew firsthand that he slept about four hours a night and worked the rest of the time.

He had two major extracurriculars, both of which took a lot of time (club volleyball and founding a non-profit designed to incorporate technology into low-income schools) and were very successful.

mohammad wong

^ Oh my God. A 4.3 at Dook? (I assume that's where you went for UG). That's unreal. Are you saying he tripled majored and got a 4.3? What kind of machine was he?

bluedevilmike

Well. He was the smartest kid in our class by a very large margin AND the hardest worker by a very large margin. And I did say he triple majored, but that was an error on my part (I asked one of our mutual friends). Turns out it was a quadruple: BME/EE/Physics/Econ.

mohammad wong

***? Seriously ***? What was this kids name? I'm sure he's on the Rhodes Scholar list so it's no secret or anything. That level of work is just overkill. I mean, I admire it a lot, but what is he trying to prove with a quadruple major in some of the hardest fields an undergrad can study? And what's with the four hours of sleep? Did he have a physiological abnormaility that made sleep unimportant? So many questions right now, haha...

bluedevilmike

Three Duke Students Receive Rhodes Scholarships