[HAWNSGIST] 5 Easy Steps In Acquiring AND Maintaining A Good CGPA In Nigeria

By ADEGOKE, Ayodeji Solomon 

Mostly, when people gain admission into higher institutions for example, the university of Ibadan, they're told that they are automatically on a 7.0 but whether it will decrease or be maintained depends on each student. Also, as they begin to receive lectures, turn in assignments, taste the flavour of tests and feel the wind of examinations, fear grips some people's heart as to if they'll be able to have a good Grade Point while some are still confident in their ability to bag a high Grade Point. 

Either one is swallowed by fear or one swallows fear as regards Grade Points, the following tips will be useful in making and maintaining high Grade Points in higher institutions:

1. Early and frequent preparation: sometimes, it looks astounding when we discover that a choir rehearses for 3 or 4 months just for a 10 minutes music presentation. Of course, the presentation will be superb and no one cares the number of months they used to prepare. It is apparent that a choir that prepares for 2 or 3 weeks won't have a better presentation in terms of quality. Likewise in preparation for exams, preparing few weeks or days to exams might not be as good as preparing months to the examination. The reason being that, most courses are voluminous and some require reading wide, doing all these early will only earn you strong preparation and revising when exams finally come. 

Also, many of us know the lyrics of some musics we listen to frequently. Some even know the lyrics more than the musicians do. That is the effect of repetition. If you try as much as possible to read the lyrics (content) of your notes and materials frequently, you'll discover that you won't just part the lyrics, the lyrics will become part of you. The reason why we remember the National anthem till now is because we were made to repeat it frequently (rote learning), likewise, the remedy to forgetting in the exam hall is frequent reading of the materials.

2. Listen in class with rapt attention: Of course, you need to first make sure you attend all classes you can attend. Some lecturers pay much attention to attendance. Having said that, I must establish that it's something to attend a lecture and it's another thing to attend to a lecture. While the former could mean you hear what the lecturer is saying, the latter means you're listening to the lecturer. In most cases, lecturers want you to first give them what you were given and then add to it. But how will one get what they're saying without paying attention to them. Some lecturers also stress the points/questions that are likely to be asked in the exam. Hence, listening attentively in class is highly pertinent. You must also jot the key points said outside the note. Do not commit everything to memory, you might forget. Don't forget that a faint pen is better than the sharpest brain. 

3. Practice past questions: some lecturers repeat questions a lot, if used effectively, it could be to the advantage of students. However, please note that this is more effective if it's the same lecturer who has been teaching the course over the years that's teaching you. Two lecturers might teach the same course and have different patterns in setting their questions. Also, do not sheepishly or dogmatically follow the past questions. Some students just practice past questions without reading their notes and when they get to the exam hall, they find questions entirely different from the past questions. What I'm trying to say is that, some lecturers might decide to change their style of setting questions, so you need to dribble against this. 

4. Understand your lecturers: Different lecturers have different needs and satisfactory levels. Therefore, study them individually, some might like it when you write epistles while some might prefer you go straight to the point. So, understand them well and give them what they request for.

5. Don't be afraid: some people get scared out of their flesh by the scent of examinations. This leads to exam anxiety and they discover that fear has served as eraser and has cleansed what they've read. This still burns down to preparation. Full preparation gives one the garment of confidence. Even if you're not fully prepared, be composed and kick fear off, you'll definitely perform well.

6. Pray fervently: even if you've written an exam well and to your satisfaction, mistakes could be imminent and they are inevitable. Also, one couldn't have written an exam perfectly. The only thing that perfects your personal effort is prayer. So, do not forget to pray.