EASY TIPS TO MASSIVELY IMPROVE YOUR CGPA: Graduating with the best grades possible

As a first class student from a reputable university in Nigeria, writing this piece, many may feel that I am about to boast of my achievements or awards. Far from that, I was even never a first class student at first, I am someone who made a decision. A conscious decision to get out the very best from my university education. That one decision shaped my life. It is a known fact that the transition from secondary school to university is something every university student can never forget. The thrills, the expectations, the sense of maturity, responsibility, and independence all rushing through your emotions. I do remember when I just got admitted into the university, I was 16 and being very young, I was a bit scared of what to expect in the university but nothing could beat the feeling of independence and freedom I knew I was going to get. I felt like a free bird.

Sure enough, before my journey to school, I was given “The advice”. The same advice I am very sure every student reading this received before heading to school. I was a bright student with a lot of awards from my primary to secondary school so I was not fazed with academic advices. At that point in time, I have heard of the term “Carry over” quite a number of times but I was always amused by the fact that a student could not get 40 marks out of a possible 100 to escape an F. After all, I said to myself, “70 is A”, How will a student fail?

With this mentality, I went into the university, stuck by my reading patterns from secondary school, wrote tests and exams and sat back to wait for my “Easy A”. You can imagine my shock when I finally saw my first semester results and what I saw far from the first class or even the 5.0 GPA I was expecting. It was at that moment that I realized that the university system especially in Nigeria is way different than that encountered in any secondary school system. At this point, I realized I needed help which brings me to the first point in your journey of improving your CGPA.

1. Seek guidance

This is your first step if you ever want to have a change because if you keep doing the same things, you can never expect a different result. There have to be a shift in your thinking pattern, your mentality and you surely need somebody to enlighten you to have that shift. For me, It was a student in a higher level who happened to be in the same department as me. He enlightened me regarding each course, how different strategies are required for different course lecturers as their methods of assessment, and grading may vary massively.

Looking back, this advise proved to be a gem in my undergraduate years as many students in Nigeria still suffer from oblivion and hard work without results because of the lack of knowledge as to how to tackle each course and lecturer. There are a lot of things you would gain if you will simply ask and in chasing that CGPA of your dreams, one thing you cannot afford to miss out on is information.

2. Be deliberate in your dealings

A man without a direction is no different from a headless chicken. You will find yourself all over the place. I will share an experience. I am sure this is something most students will be very familiar with. In 100L, there was this rave of going to night classes, every night we would gear up to go for night classes and TDBs, many times we ended up not achieving anything or sleeping all through but to our gullible minds, we were serious minded and way better than other students who just stayed at home or do not read at night. At that time, what I did not realize was that those students had understood themselves and knew what worked for them. It took me until my second year to fully discover myself. It was then I realized that night classes was to me just a façade of feigning seriousness and what worked for me was reading in the day time. Now i know the question on your mind. “What happens when your class schedule does not permit your preferred time and type of reading?”. Excellent question actually. As you read further, that question will be answered in full.

3. Set goals

Whether you are currently a second class lower student wanting to graduate with a second class upper or a second class upper student aiming for a first class, you have to first envision it. Yes, you have to see it happening else it can’t come into fruition. You have to believe that this is something you can do and once that registers in your mind, It becomes easier to translate it into work. After that is done, it is then imperative to set actual targets for your academic journey. This is where you might need to bring out your pen and paper. This may sound ridiculous but I have seen it work a lot of times, with myself inclusive.

Do this:

• Write out all the courses you are offering for a semester
• Write down the grades you want in each of them (Note that you can’t do this faintheartedly. It is something you only put down with the knowledge that you are sure you are going towards achieving them)
• Calculate your GP and write down your proposed GPA and CGPA
• Play around with the grades. Perhaps change a “B” to a “C” or a “B” to an “A” in your proposed grades and then recalculate your GP. You would notice the impact that one grade will have on your CGPA and it will serve as a motivating factor whenever you want to slack in your studies.
• Keep this in somewhere you can always see. This will serve as a constant reminder up till the point it is engraved in your mind.

You might also want to consider distracting elements that may stand against your goals. Take note of this and make deliberate actions to avoid them. No matter how pleasant they may seem, as long as they distract you from achieve your goals, they are things that must be avoided.

4. Befriend like-minded people

It is one thing to modify your mind and thoughts but you need the right environment to condition and maintain that thought process. “You are the product of your environment” which is really true. Hanging around the wrong set people academically would do more harm than you may think. However, it is important to strike the balance when it comes to this. Many may ask “What about networking? Will I just make friends with academic people because I want to build my CGPA?”. A brilliant question. To answer this, It is important to be in control of your life. There are certain friends you know you cannot afford to be around when you are trying to be serious or focus. These are the people you should avoid at certain times as far as academics is concerned. Now, this does not mean you are no longer friends, but there is now a boundary and for someone who wants to be successful in any sphere of life not just academically, this is an absolute necessity.

That being said, It is worthy of mention that you attract people like yourself and the quality of your company speaks about the company of yourself but we have already covered improving the quality of our thoughts and mentality, so cheers!

5. Be Flexible

You might also want to call this being able to adapt and as one from a Nigerian university, this is something that is an absolute survival skill. The difference between you drowning in school stress physically plus the defeat of not being able to put what you had set out to achieve academically mentally and scaling through superbly is how well you are able to handle tricky situations and adjust accordingly. There are certain times that your schedule will prove to not be palatable like having classes from 8am to 7pm for most of the week not mentioning personal commitments in the time after school hours. Now if you are like me that only loved reading during the day time, the big question comes up. “How do I cope?’.

Well, to answer the question that has been on your mind since point number 2 about deliberateness, I will share a personal experience. I was faced with this dilemma in my third year of the university. Back to back classes, practical and assignments, I was drained, exhausted and slacking on school work. I got so behind in reading that I knew if I could not come up with a strategy, failure was looking me in the eye. What to do? I knew I could only read during the day but out of necessity, I had to read at night and then I had to have rest so as not to be burned out. So what I did was to always return home immediately after classes, giving no room to play around after classes, then have my rest from that 7pm to 12am, that way I have my 5 hours rest which is sufficient for me and have like 4-6 hours to read. It was difficult at first as I couldn’t stop dozing off for the first few days.

However after those 3 days , I became used to it thanks to the drive in me I have inculcated right from time. That and “My enemies will laugh at me” thoughts. With this, I was able to master reading at any time of the day. Your reading pattern might be the opposite of mine but what is important is that you work out ways to be on top on any situation that presents itself. Once again, Be deliberate!

By following these steps accordingly, you are guaranteed to see results and fulfill that dream of graduating in the best possible way.

If you have questions, contributions or thoughts you would like to share, Kindly leave them in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading.