As students progress in college, their grade point averages increase according to a report published by the University of Wisconsin Registrar’s Institutional Reporting office.
The report lists the average GPAs for the fall 2002-’03 semester for all students, as well as average GPAs within every major on campus.
An average UW freshman’s GPA is 3.091 and an average UW sophomore’s GPA is 3.07. However, the average UW junior GPA increases to 3.159, and the average UW senior GPA jumps to 3.309.
Although there is a slight decrease from freshman to sophomore year GPAs, the trend is a continued increase as a student progresses in college.
UW students have some theories why their GPAs tend to go up as they get older.
“I’ve started taking classes that are more of interest to my life as I get older,” UW junior Christine Culver said. “Also, you learn what to study, versus what not to study, and how to take exams.”
UW sophomore Marin Weiner said class size and interesting classes influence grades.
“My classes are smaller now, and I have more time with the instructors. I take advantage of that,” Weiner said. “Now that I’ve decided my major, classes have more meaning and I enjoy them more.”
Another student said some 100-level courses are just as challenging as advanced-level courses and might cause the drop in freshmen GPAs.
“100-level courses are weed-out courses because when I go back and take some of those classes now, I think some of them are harder than higher-level courses,” UW junior Amy Wood said.
Dorm life is another problem students encounter during their freshman year. Because there are so many people around, some say it’s hard for students to concentrate on studies.
“Moving into the dorms and seeing how many other things you could be doing makes you not want to do homework,” Wood said.
The trend of increasing GPAs is the common path most students follow, but this is not true for all UW students.
Some students point to a lack of initiative in their studies as they get older. Once they get into their major, some students find that their GPAs don’t matter as much anymore, as long as they maintain the minimum GPA to stay in the major.
For others, GPA does affect which major they will pursue because of limited enrollment within majors. Randy Gentile, academic adviser for the Cross-College advising service, consults primarily with freshmen and sophomores who either didn’t get into a limited-enrollment major, such as business or nursing, or are undecided about their major.
For limited enrollment, a number of these majors use GPA as one of the primary factors for admittance, Gentile said.
For many UW students, study skills pose a problem and have the potential to affect GPA. This area is where the Greater University Tutorial Service (GUTS), offers help with study skills.
Most commonly, students’ biggest study problems include procrastination and lack of motivation, which leads to falling behind in classes. Most students are then overwhelmed by the amount of reading they have to do before exams, according to Brienne Holschbach, study skills staff assistant for GUTS.
Interestingly, Holschbach has noticed a growing trend of upperclassmen, transfer students and returning students utilizing GUTS study skills services more than underclassmen this academic year.
GUTS offers free services that include one-on-one appointments and group workshops to help students study and, hopefully, improve their grades.
Other info about GUTS:
Website: http://guts.studentorg.wisc.edu
Location/Hours: Monday-Thursday 11-5, Union South, room 302A
Also offers drop-in tutoring Sunday through Wednesday nights at Gordon Commons, HC White, Steenbock, Union South, and the MSC.
