I finished my first semester of college with a gpa of 3.7. Wondering if that’s considered good, or if I need to pick up the pace and do better next semester. Thoughts?
Yes it is a good GPA for college. Keep up the good work.
Sounds great.
That’s quite good for a first semester.
Yes it is great.
That’s a really good GPA–if you can keep that up for 4 years you’ll probably be really happy with your post-graduation prospects!
At many schools I’m familiar with, that’s an “honors” GPA! Congratulations on the hard work.
Thanks for the replies everyone! I am a bit self-conscious about my grades and how I will perform in school due to my not-so good grade history in High school. There have been times in my past semester of college where I found myself struggling to write my essays or study for big tests, but I’ve put in many hours of studying and I guess it’s paid off with the grades I’ve made. I definitely could do better though next time around considering I’ve improved so much since. Next semester will be tougher for me, and the path I am choosing will be rigorous, but if I managed before then I can do it again.
Two things. First, you can evaluate your semester and cumulative gpa by checking the colleges grades with the merit designation like magna cum laude with a particular gpa. Second, college is often a very challenging term because you are learning about following your class schedule, taking notes, keeping up with routine studying, learning how to manage time to write a paper, succeeding on tests, etc., etc…when you have learned the basics of doing college, you have devised a model for future success. After that, you may find some challenging classes, but at least maintaining your first gpa should be pretty routine.
A GPA of 3.7 is excellent, especially for a first semester. As long as you keep up your study and time management methods, and continue to refine them as you go, you’ve got a bright academic career ahead of you.
What, if you don’t mind me asking, are you studying?
@ConnPhysics I was going to study Political Science, but I want to get into Physics. Only problem is, I haven’t taken a Physics class in years and I’m a little bit behind on the math courses that are required for it.
For Political Science,a 3.7 GPA sets you above the norm by a significant margin, if what I have read is any indication. If you were to study physics, the 3.7 is certainly solid as well.
For the math required for physics, it differs depending on whether you wanted to take lower level physics out of interest, or higher level physics with the hard science and engineering majors. For the former, as long as you have a grasp of algebra and some comfort with trigonometry, you should get by without much trouble. The latter, you would probably be expected to have some level of understanding of calculus to begin with, and the typical physics major math requirement is the standard Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, and generally a math methods course. It’s not too difficult to get yourself up to snuff with this sort of math if you’re diligent and if you’re smart about how you study.
Well, considering I’ve already been taking school seriously, I have a good shot at it. I’m assuming you are probably in the physics program since you appear to be speaking from experience? What is the work like, and what’s my best chance for success in physics?