How to Get a 4.0 GPA

Why do you want a 4.0?

To make 4.0 possible, you must first clearly identify your reasons for a 4.0 GPA. The common reasons most people have is that a 4.0 GPA will land them the good jobs. While I certainly don't deny that this is true, I do believe a student with 4.0 GPA does have a higher chance to land better jobs than 3.0 students. However, if this your reason to earn a 4.0 GPA then you will most likely be disappointed. The most important factor in the determining success in pursuit of a goal depends heavily on your motivations. The distance you travel on a particular path in search for a vague vision lies decisively on how bad you want it. So if the reason for wanting a 4.0 GPA is a simple, “I want to get a good job”, then I'm afraid the outlook to earn such a success is very very slim.

The need for a 4.0 GPA has to be stronger than that. It must be strong enough to make you enjoy classes you hate. It must be strong enough to make you test yourself about the subject over and over again to the point of mastery. It must be strong enough to put you in office hours of your professors regularly. Once you've developed enough motivations to earn a 4.0 GPA, you've done half of the battle.

Now to get a 4.0 GPA

There are two main principles that allows anybody to achieve success in anything, whether this be earning 4.0 GPA to running a multi-billion dollar company. These two are the right motivation and the right strategy.

Now I've already talked about how important motivation is above. It's an integral part of any success in anything. One major pitfall people fall into in terms of motivation is that they do not protect it. Remember, motivation is like a delicate plant, it requires appropriate nurture in order to make it prosper and blossom.

And the hard part, implementing the right strategy to get a 4.0 GPA. This is very difficult because everyones brains are wired differently, what strategy works for me may not be practical to you. So in a sense, this is a skill that has to be developed by the person who wants a 4.0 GPA. With that in mind, I'm going to share the basic concepts that I've learned over my years of academic success. I believe these concepts covers the learning techniques applicable to majority of the students out there.

Since GPA is the goal, I think it's safe to say that grades almost entirely depends on your studying techniques, so this is what I'm going to focus on. It's important to know the difference between passive studying and active studying. Active studying is what you must do every single day to earn the highest grade possible possible. Examples of active studying are;

Active Studying
• When given a required reading, you read and summarize each idea. Depending on the difficulty of the subject you may summarize every paragraph to every section.
• When doing math problems, you don't just do the homework. You do the homework just to get exposed to concepts. You end up doing 2-3 more times practice problems than the assigned homework making sure you've seen as much problems as you can at least twice.
• When working on science or historical subjects you make charts and graphs, draw figures that allows you to simplify and interpret the material in a way that make sense to you.
• Studies in chunks

Notice active studying is somewhat pain painstakingly tedious, but that's the point. Active studying cares about mastery of the subject so you must be willing to make all the sacrifices necessary to incorporate it.

It's also important to notice that active studying studies in chunks. Concentration can only be maintain for a short time. Studying on low concentration does little benefit you so it is just a wast of time. When you study for 5 hours for example, the last 2.5 hours are probably low concentration studying there where the benefit is minuscule compared to the first 2.5 hours. So it's best to break this 5 hour studying into 2 part high concentration study sessions to ensure maximum retention.

Passive Studying

• Just reading the material, maybe some highlighting, on a required reading. Focusing on finishing the reading rather than understanding the reading
• Just doing the math problems required. Again the focus is finishing the homework rather than knowing how to do the problems.
• Simply reading for science and historical subjects. Doesn't go through the trouble of creatively thinking of ways to understand the material.
• Studies in long periods of time

Passive studying only does the minimal amount to survive the class. It relies on the duration of studying rather than the quality of each session. Therefore it yields little benefit to success in the class.

Alright, those two are the basic principles to the right strategy for studying. It's important to remember that the goal is to stay on active studying side. If you truly understand the idea of active studying then you will be able to create your own studying techniques that will work for you.

For students who have lost opportunity to get 4.0 GPA

If you have already started your student career with less than a 4.0 GPA then there is no way to get a 4.0 GPA anymore, that's just how the grading system works. If this is the case then I suggest getting your act together now and start incorporating the ideas above to earn the highest GPA you can have-it's not too late. I say this because not having a 4.0 GPA doesn't mean you have lost your opportunities, in some cases, better opportunities open up to those who demonstrate dramatic improvements in their academic careers. So get to it, NOW!

Note

The two principles I've outlined for achieving a 4.0 GPA, the right motivation and the right strategy, doesn't just apply to earning a 4.0 GPA. They are also the underlying principles for achieving success in anything. I just chose use 4.0 GPA example to convey the idea.