There are a lot of different terms that are thrown around when you enter college and many of those terms come in the form of acronyms. From entrance exams like the ACT or the SAT, to degrees like a BA or BS, all those letters can get confusing. One acronym that has followed you from high school, however, is your GPA, or grade point average.

A grade point average is a way to universally measure student performance on the same scale. Usually on a scale of 0 to 4.0, with 4.0 being the highest, each grade you receive is assigned points and averaged out. (It is possible to receive higher than a 4.0 if you complete extra credit in addition to your perfect grades.) Typically, an A is worth four points, a B is worth three points, a C is worth 2 points and a D is worth one point. For instance, if you take five classes, and earn three A’s and two B’s, your total points would be 18 for that semester. Then you would divide your 18 points by the five classes you took for a grade point average of 3.6. Read the rest of this entry »

All through middle school and even the first few years of high school, I always dreaded the day I would have to walk around school with my mom talking to my teachers about my grades and progress. Most of the time my grades were great, it was the comments my teachers had I didn’t enjoy hearing. Each year I always heard comments on how I talk too much and I have the tendency to create distractions in class from time to time. Of course when mom asked me about this I defended myself swearing that I didn’t talk THAT much and I wasn’t that much of a distraction.

I have always avoided going to parent teacher conferences. Not because I am afraid to hear what my teachers have to say about me, but rather because I believe that teachers will not be as honest with you there. Your teachers don’t want to hurt your feelings or make a comment that could possibly offend you, so when you are present at the conference, they seem to censor what they tell your parents.

This censoring may be good for some who aren’t as motivated as some or who are a constant distraction, but for other students, it can cause more harm because as a student you want to know what you need to work on so that you can improve yourself and your grades. I think that students should avoid going to conferences unless they are forced to go or want to go. But of course, going to conferences is up to the individual!