Your Guide to Getting a 4.0: How to Improve Your GPA Fast

• Learn to be a super effective student to give yourself a great shot at a high GPA; for instance, try making yourself a daily study schedule.
• Keep yourself motivated by adopting a growth mindset and focusing on what's driving you to succeed—whether that's your value system or a concrete goal.
• Choose a major and course schedule that sets you up for success. For instance, select a major that suits your strengths or your passions.

What’s a good GPA?

There's no such thing as a "good" or "bad" GPA, but 3.0 is above average. GPAs are totally relative, and you get to decide on your own GPA goals. Some careers, undergraduate, or graduate schools have strict preferences. Top colleges and competitive graduate fields (like medicine), for example, usually accept a minimum 3.5 GPA. And the higher your GPA, the more competitive you'll be, so if you're after a high-paying role (like finance or consulting) you should prioritize getting a high GPA. 4.0 is an "A" average and indicates excellent performance, 3.5 is a "B" and indicates good performance, 2.0 is a "C" and indicates average performance, 1.0 is a "D" and indicates below average performance.

Raising Your GPA

Ask your professors or teachers for help when you need it. Remember, your teachers actually want you to succeed—so if you come to them and ask for help, they’ll probably be excited to lend a hand. Instead of suffering in silence, let them know if you’re confused by the syllabus, struggling with the material, or hoping for guidance on a project or paper. Apply these tips to flawlessly communicate with your teacher or professor: Always be friendly and respectful over email and in person. Your teacher will be way more likely to help if they feel appreciated. Before you reach out, look through course materials (or anything else they've given you) thoroughly. That way, you don’t accidentally ask about something they’ve already clarified. Introduce yourself to them early on. That way, you’ll create a rapport immediately (which will make them more likely to help down the line!).

Create or join study groups for all of your classes. Reach out to friends or peers via the classroom attendance sheet (if you want, feel free to walk right up and ask someone new to join your group). Schedule time to meet in a library or cafe—and aim to create a study group of around 4-5 people. This way, you’ll share the academic load without getting too distracted or disorganized by big numbers. Break up your readings into chunks for each of you to cover, collect individual notes, then share those out with the group. You could even plan to present the content you covered like a mini-lecture—that way, you’ll master all the material super effectively. Make it a habit that if something doesn’t make sense, each member feels comfortable asking about it.

Get a tutor if you need one. Reach out to your college’s learning center or you high school guidance counselor to see if your school offers free services for students. Or, if you're in college, reach out to your academic advisor, as they’ll definitely know of the best options for your situation. There might even be past students willing to tutor you for hire—check with friends or through social media. Tutoring can help you get individual attention on topics or subjects you find especially tricky. Plus, tutoring can increase confidence as well. The more comfortable you are with the material, the more likely you are to engage in class.

Make class attendance a priority. Though it can be so tempting to skip class for a long lunch, make it to every class—it’s super important. Not only are tons of college classes graded by attendance (hello, easy points!), but even when you’re tired, attending lecture means that you’re soaking up crucial information. Some classes have participation points, too—don’t lose out on these. If you’re shy, talk to your professor about turning in notes relevant to your discussion (you might be surprised by their flexibility!). If you do have to miss class, plan for it. Let your professor know ahead of time and ask a fellow student for their notes, too.

Become an expert note-taker. Taking solid notes is a crucial skill for any student—in general, focus on gathering as much of your professor or teacher's words as quickly as possible. Write in short sentences and your own words (as this will help you connect with the content better). Plus, try these tips, too: Use shorthand, symbols, and diagrams that make sense to you (for example, an “up arrow” might mean something increased). When you’re done with each lesson, go back and highlight concepts by colors. Themes in pink, dates, in blue—you get the idea! If you miss something that your teacher mentioned, write the term down and circle it so you can revisit later on.

Make an effective daily study schedule. Use your time super wisely, and you’ll feel like you found more hours in the day. Set up time each day to get all of your basics done, like eating, exercising, and relaxing. Then, set time aside for studying, too. Apply these tips to create the ultimate sched: Find empty windows of time that you'd normally waste and fill them. Spend those extra 15 minutes between classes looking over your syllabus, for example. Don’t spend more than a couple hours on one subject at a time. That way, things stay fresh, even if you have tons to do. Plan study sessions right after lecture when the material is fresh. This is by far the most effective way to soak up new info.

Keep close track of your deadlines. Organizing your day-to-day study sessions is great, but that doesn’t mean much of deadline after deadline still sneaks up on you! You’ll create your best work when you have plenty of time (plus, you’ll limit last-minute stressing, too!) so keep a calendar with big deadlines. Plan your daily study schedules around what needs to be done, when. For instance, set page goals for each day or week. Leave some cushion before the deadline. Sometimes, unexpected things come up. Plan to be done a little early, and you’ll be prepared. Plus, organization is a skill. The better you get at setting these routines now, the better you’ll be for the rest of your life!

Find something that motivates you and use it. The truth is, maintaining a high GPA can be super challenging. So how will you stay motivated, energized, and fulfilled when the going gets tough? The key is to have a concrete goal or a specific value in mind. Then, when you study, remember what you’re working towards. Choose a specific goal. You might have a career, aware, or undergrate school in mind—and when you imagine getting it, you feel amazing. Identify a value you care about. Maybe you value passion, hard work, curiosity, or lifelong learning. By studying, you’re honoring that! Work to become your dream self—maybe they’re smart, capable, and accomplished. Studying helps you become who you’d like to be.

Choose to have a growth mindset. Having a growth mindset means that you understand hard work and dedication—not inherent skill or intelligence—will be how you find success. When you can, think of your academics as a work in progress, one that you have complete power to change. To start embodying this mindset, remember that the research supports it. People with growth mindsets are more likely to succeed! Reign in negative self-talk. Part of getting better means taking your failures lightly, but then letting them motivate you. When we fail, it’s sometimes are best chance to learn new lessons that could define our future success. Celebrate your failures!

Make sure that you’re getting enough sleep. The amount of sleep you get has a huge impact on how effective your memory is—so by getting extra hours of rest, you’ll become a better student naturally! It may not seem important, but sleep is crucial to your learning. In general, try to get 7-9 hours of slumber every night. Consistency helps you fall and stay asleep more easily. Aim to wake up (and go to bed) at the same time each day. Caffeine can seriously mess with your sleep cycles. If you’re a big coffee drinker, make sure to have your last cup at noon. Try a light, relaxing nighttime ritual 20 minutes before bed. Do some reading, meditate, or listen to calming music.

If you're in college, choose courses thoughtfully to keep a manageable schedule. If you’re careful about which courses you take when, for example, you’ll give yourself a way better chance at getting good grades. If you know that you struggle with English, for instance, you might want to stagger these courses throughout your 4 years (so you don’t get overloaded!). Relatedly, choosing to take certain courses as pass-fail can be a big help, too. Most colleges allow you to take just a few courses pass-fail, so you should save them for classes you feel you might not earn top marks in.

Choose a major you’re confident you can succeed in if you're a college student. There are tons of factors to consider when choosing a major—what career you might want, whether or not you want to go to grad school, and what interests you most academically. That said, if you’re looking to get a high GPA, it makes sense that you’d play to your strengths. Choose something you typically excel at! If you’re not sure what that might be, spend your freshman year trying out different courses. That way, you don’t miss anything! And you can always swap majors if you need to. Say junior year rolls around and your major is too tough, you can change it to something you think is easier.