Did you find that your GPA went up or down in third year?

dr gonzo

Hey all, just finished my last assignment of this semester and I have to say that the semester in general was a disaster overall so I'm kind of banking on third year now.

Is it reasonable to think that I can write wrongs grade-wise next year or does a bad semester/year have permanent repercussions?

I know this is a stupidly broad question without more info but I'm just wondering if others have been in this situation and pulled it out of the bag in the end?

Mardy Bum

It all depends on the how the percentage of your degree grading is split for each year. If it is Arts its 50/50 and other courses are more like 30/70.

If you balls up second year Arts its very difficult to get a decent GPA no matter how hard you try because of the way its split 50/50.

WeeBushy

My degree was four years with 3rd and 4th being worth 50% each. My GPA went up in 4th year, in fact I had a poor semester 2 in 3rd year so a similar situation to yourself.

I worked my ass off in 4th year and made up for it, and am doing a master that I love now so there is hope for you

Obviously you'll have to do better than you normally do next year if you want to make up for a poor semester, but it is possible.

There are so many variables and differences between courses, but take heart in the fact that not is all lost. Work like hell for the exams, enjoy your summer and come back next year refreshed and refocused.

Zuffer

Think I know where you're coming from, OP. There are a couple of different ways of looking at it. I'm assuming that you're in a 3 year arts degree with a 50/50 split situation, so you've done 2 of the 4 semesters that count towards your final degree GPA.

1st up, there is the pure possibility frontier. Say you got A+ in everything next year. That would be a GPA of 4.2. So you can do a little calculation.
(4.2 + x)/2 = Your best possible GPA, where x is whatever your GPA based on the first 2 semesters is.

Then there is reality. Despite the best of intentions, you're still going to be the same person next year that you are this year. There is a limit to how much superhuman effort you can put in to change your GPA. Not everyone can breeze their way to an A+. Some of us have to work hard to even hit middle of the road marks.

My own experience. Final year is harder than the previous year. Modules are tougher by design. However, if there is some specific problem you can correct that will enable you to work harder (eg. being 100% healthy if you were sick for some of the previous semester), then there is the potential to improve. I improved a 3.0 in spring 2010 up to a 'better but still not quite where I needed to be' 3.5 in autumn 2010.

I guess it depends on the reasons you're currently not doing as well as you'd like. If you're trying really hard, putting the work in, but not getting the results, then I wouldn't expect improvement. However, if you could have worked harder, spent more time on assignments, gone to more lectures, studied more for exams, then obviously if you change those things next year you should do better.

GobBass

Down,and there's one reason.

Doing German. Its tough to say the least.

**Timbuk2**

Semester 2 of my third year is all work placement. How does this work in terms of GPA - it's only pass or fail, you aren't "graded" as such.

For my degree, Semester 1 of third year and Semesters 1 and 2 of fourth year count equally, but that isn't the same as GPA, per se. Or is it?

WeeBushy

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Semester 2 of my third year is all work placement. How does this work in terms of GPA - it's only pass or fail, you aren't "graded" as such.

For my degree, Semester 1 of third year and Semesters 1 and 2 of fourth year count equally, but that isn't the same as GPA, per se. Or is it?

It is, that means that each semester is worth 33%, no?

I had a work placement as part of my degree as well and it was GPA neutral, just distinction, pass or fail.

**Timbuk2**

WeeBushy wrote: »

It is, that means that each semester is worth 33%, no?

Yes, exactly! that's a better way of phrasing it than I did

WeeBushy wrote: »

I had a work placement as part of my degree as well and it was GPA neutral, just distinction, pass or fail.

By GPA neutral you mean, it doesn't impact the GPA for the year? Or is there a yearly GPA, I'm only in first year so I only have one GPA for Semester One, so far. I was just worried that if I passed, the GPA from that semester would count as 2.0, which might skew the overall GPA a bit.

TimeToShine

Anyone here do well in Semester one then cock up Semester 2 completely?

WeeBushy

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

By GPA neutral you mean, it doesn't impact the GPA for the year? Or is there a yearly GPA, I'm only in first year so I only have one GPA for Semester One, so far. I was just worried that if I passed, the GPA from that semester would count as 2.0, which might skew the overall GPA a bit.

It didn't affect my GPA at all, it essentially doesn't have a GPA at all so isn't included in any GPA calculations.

I doubt they would give 50% to 2nd year when you only do one academic semester, and 50% to your final year when you are doing twice the work. Ask in the programmes office if you're still not sure - but I would be very surprised.

Hope that makes sense I'm a week bit under the influence

**Timbuk2**

No it's one third for Year 3 Semester 1, and one third for EACH semester in Year 4. You had it right in your above post

thanks for the help!

WeeBushy

Blargh. No worries

Fad

CS is all final year

DonQuigleone

It depends on what caused you to fail. If it's due to a lack of motivation to study I wouldn't expect things to change. If it's due to difficulty with the subject you will probably improve.

However I wouldn't worry too much about grades. Far as I can see, the only people who will care about your GPA are the job interviewers at your first job. A high GPA is nice, but a low one won't doom you to a life of working as a garbage man.