“HELP, MY CGPA IS FALLING EVERY SEMESTER”
Dear Jarus,
I am a regular reader and follower of your blog. My name is Wale, a 300 level student in one of the state universities in the south west and my course of study is Business Education. The essence of writing you is because I don’t know what is actually wrong with me academically and I want u to advise me on what to do as you have
always done to other followers of your blog. Few years ago, I was given an admission to study Business education of which I didn’t apply for, my choice then was economics or nothing but my dad persuaded me to accept it and I did although I didn’t like the course at first but later plan to have ICAN certification after graduating because the course is more of accounting.
In my first semester 100l I had a G.P of 4.25 which I saw a good starting point for me and what I can actually build on to get to the First class range in second semester. I tried my best in second semester although I didn’t get to first class but I found myself in 4.40. I talked to myself then, that first class is surmountable by 200L first semester, we got to that first semester but rather than my CGPA to increase, reverse was the case, I fell to 4.28 although I was
having a personal serious issue with myself then, so I admitted that it was because of what I was facing.
I promised myself in second semester again that I will move forward even though it is not achievable in one semester again, second semester result came out few weeks ago and I fell to 4.24 rather than moving forward. Pls I need your right guidance and advice on what I can do, I don’t party nor chasing skirts and I didn’t stop reading. I just don’t know what is happening and in this 300L, I just got elected as the P.R.O of my department which I will have to dedicate little time to the small portfolio that I’m holding. Colleagues that we started together as 4-pointers are on nothing less than 4.51 while I am going down.
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Dear Wale,
First, CGPAs stagger or drop successively for more than half of students, so, to be frank, it’s not an entirely strange phenomenon. I have seen someone that even dropped from first class bracket (above 4.50) in year to second class lower (below 3.50) by the time he graduated. This is mostly because, largely, the higher you go the tougher the courses, and the less lenient the course takers. In years one and two, a good number of Nigerian students cram and pass, but at higher levels, when you go into real theory, cramming is not usually helpful again. Lecturers also become more thorough.
If your CGPA trend so far is plotted on a graph, it will form an inverted-U shape (4.25 rose to 4.4 fell to 4.28 and dropped marginally to 4.24, where you started.). Your case isn’t so bad. 4.24 at the end of year 2 is a good CGPA.
You just need to remain focused. At the beginning of every semester, get the list of courses you will be offering, write them down, set a target on a piece of paper on what you want to score in each of them, talk to senior colleagues that did the course in the previous session, ask about the lecturer’s style, what is needed to pass the various courses etc.
I will generally recommend the following articles we’ve published in the past:
- HELPFUL TIPS IN ACHIEVING ACADEMIC SUCCESS
- SECRETS OF FIRST CLASS STUDENT
- TIPS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
- MISTAKES THAT CAN COST YOU FIRST CLASS DEGREE
You just need to keep your eye on the goal. You can make it.
As for taking departmental association role, if I were you, I would not have contested. Not that people that participate in departmental politics don’t do well, but for someone that is highly concerned about declining performance like you, departmental association position should not be priority now. Yet, I believe you can combine the two.
I wish you all the best.
Jarus
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