Stem degree with a high GPA( 3 inspiring stories)

Getting a stem degree with a high GPA like 3.8 or 3.9 is not easy, and doesn’t come from anything. It is a result of hard work and dedication that students are willing to pay for.

But also there are strategies that should be applied. So in this article, we’re going to expose 3 cases studies of stem students who succeed in getting a degree with a high GPA.

Case study 1 : 3.5 GPA

As a successful major I will tell my story:

Being successful in this major doesn’t mean being a nighter or sleeping 5 hours a day. Is a commitment and lifestyle that I will talk about.

I was working between 30 and 35 hours a week which was not easy. Spending 5 to 6 hours of the day on the regular basis. So for the first time, it was hard to stay at this level, but things become usable and acceptable after some weeks.

My schedule was set from 8 am to 9 pm where I had a bunch of stuff to do during the day. But I always have a routine to take 2 hours in mid relaxing by doing anything out of studies.

My focus strategy was based on these 4 steps:

  • Attending all classes
  • Taking notes
  • Working bymyself
  • Asking help for many directions

Attending all calsses

The most thing that I think that helped me to get a stem degree with a high GPA is catching all possible pieces of information. I was incredibly persistent to attend all classes especially the purely classes like physics and mathematics.

It help me so much to reduce a lot of time to gather the information that would cost hours doing a self-research on the web.

Taking notes

The second thing that created a big difference in my success is good taking note methods. I was taking a lot of notes, also others people’s questions, and my personal questions to answer later.

So everything that fall into my mind, I don’t hesitate to write it down in my notebook and sometimes I used the iPad for classes that were demanding some drawing stuff like physics.

Work by myself

The third and hard thing that I used to do, is to force myself to classify my notes. To clarify, I was rewriting my notes in my official notebook using colored markers and pens. That helped me so much to memorize and know where I am.

Also, writing my questions and schedule my weekly program, asking questions depending on the subject that I have. For instance, I was devoting Monday to responding to mathematics questions, I was asking my colleges and professors.

Asking help for many directions

The brilliant t thing that helped so much, is my diverse resources of getting questions responses. In other words, I was focusing a lot on going to office professors and asking my questions. As a result, created a good relationship with my professors and proved to them how much I was serious about my studies.

Also growing helped me to gain a lot of information using youtube videos and some special online platforms like this one.

The terrible thing that I remember is one day when I decided to put in all nighter right before an exam, which was terrible for me. It was a hard way to learn that I’m a terrible sleep-deprived student.

To sum up I don’t think that my natural intelligence has got to me to get a stem degree with HIGH GPA as a stem major rather than hard work and discipline.

Case study 2: 3.8 GPA

Before I will begin to tell my story I want to warn all students of a killer mistake to avoid:

skipping classes
don’t skip your classes

This was the first mistake that I made in my first year in college. I was making an excuse to skip classes like

  • This subject is easy, I don’t have to waste my 2 hours
  • I have to study for my math exams
  • I have some homework
  • The professor doesn’t explain, well i will catch up bymelsef

The list of excuses is long and doesn’t finish…

The first year I paid the price and learn the hard way. But in the second year, I swore to myself to never skip a single class whatever it is. Because this is an easy road to be a successful lazy student.

I could sum up my strategy of success in those 4 tips I did

Focus

I decided to be more focused on my stem subjects. So 4 classes per semester were enough for me to say in good track. I diversified my program between hard and medium. I asked my friend about the hard classes and the easiest ones. So that helps me so much to make my own program.

I didn’t care and compared myself to other students who took 5 science classes or something else. I just focused on myself to achieve my goal.

Good professors

I enrolled in classes that have good reputation professors, not the ones who are unnecessarily difficult. Also, professors who are delivering value to their students and support their students in their subjects.

Frankly, I enjoyed having one-to-one sessions with my professors. Because I have already chosen the right and best professor of the subject.

Early preparation

I was doing something that I could consider a major reason for my success to get a high GPA as a stem major. “EARLY EXAMS PREPARATIONS” I was always preparing 1 month away from principal exams. As a result that helped me to work comfortably and be less stressed.

In the last week before the midterm exams, I was just devoted to explaining my colleges and hung out with them to add some additional information. Explaining to my colleges was hugely useful for me helping to fix those pieces of information and also fix some bugs in my head.

Going to office hours

Having office woks was my routine, which I considered one of the most valuable times to take advantage of. Having valuable minutes with professors is something to not refuse even I don’t have tougher questions.

Sometimes I ask for regular questions that already have a response in my mind. But I don’t expect how my responses were not concise according to how professors responded.

So I always went to offices hours expecting to learn something that I would not ever ask about.

Case study 3 : 3.97 GPA

Happy to share my story as a successful stem major with a 3.97 GPA

I’ve never got a lower than an A in my subjects, but I can say that I was an extremist in my first year of study. I tried to maximize my chances and tap on my full capacities into my studies. I didn’t exercise any hobby or partied with friends in my first year, I was completely focused on my studies to bring a chill out later on in my next years.

I m not telling you this is how it should be, but this is what I did in my first year of college.

So I’m going to tell you 4 things that helped me to get a stem degree with high GPA

Revising note instantly

I was revising my note that I took on daily lectures every day. It helped me so much to build the habit of revising my notes before sleeping. It keeps my mind fresh and prepares me early to ask questions.

It was very hard for me to stay persistent every day and don’t give up on procrastination ideas like” I will do it tomorrow because I m tired today“. But it was a worth it experience.

you could watch this video below to know why is important to revise early in the day.

Never skip classes

I remember myself attending all classes from the exciting to the boring ones. I didn’t allow myself to have this bad habit that many students fall into. Skipping classes is a build-up habit it might be like testing drugs.

Also, attending considerable easy classes help me to test myself if I’m really aware of the subject or just delusional. In addition, attending helps me to know what are the focused topics that the professor will focus on in exams. So it was always again from.

Office hours

The take note method that I talked about help me quickly to find my shortcomings and things that I don’t understand. So asking for help in-office hours. It was useful to not let things pile up and damage the quality of my studies later.

So I used my office hours and asked my professors the fresh questions related to the last topic that we studied last week. This helps me to consolidate my relationship with them, and prove how much I was serious and diligent.

I think sometimes even if I mess up in some exams, I felt like it was tiny curvings in my notes. So building good relationships with professors is hugely important, thus diligence and only road to pick.

A lot of practice

Practice for long hours was my second weapon during this journey. I was spending 5 hours a day working on my subjects and doing exercises for mathematical problems. At the same time, I wasn’t missing to take any tiny notes or questions that I had during the day.

Between 10 pm to 11 pm is was just a time for revising all my daily notes before I go to bed. Normally I was sleeping between 7 and 8 hours a day, which help me to wake up rested and ready for a new productive day.

Coclusion

According to what we saw in our 3 successful case studies, organization hard work and mentoring are three main keys that guarantee for any successful student to get a high GPA as a stem major.

you could also what this video cases study talking about getting a degree with 4.0 GPA as a stem major.

yassin.ajanif

Yassin ajanif is a physics graduate and electromechanical engineer width more than 5 years in the field. My goal and my team are to share our experience to help you succeed in your career as a stem major. we talk about all tips, problems, and struggle STEM students face in their career and how to overcome them.