Earning a 1.0 GPA
If you have listened to any of the Success is Subjective Podcast interviews, you may have noticed that several of the guests mentioned earning less than 2.0 GPA their first semester in college. Notice how I am using the word “earned.” It takes effort to earn this GPA. Lots of effort in doing everything other than academics.
When I worked in higher education, it was common to have more than 1,000 students on academic probation after their first semester. Out of an incoming class of 5,000 students, we are talking about 20% of the first-year students earned less than a 2.0 GPA. That means that most of their classes were Ds and Fs. When you also compare that to the first-year retention rates where it is common to see a college or university tout a 83% first-year retention rate, we can’t help but wonder if a majority of those not returning were the same students who failed their courses in the fall. Colleges have this data. They are constantly trying to compute why a student does not do well academically and trying with everything in their power to provide the supports necessary for that student to become academically successful and ultimately retain. Retention = money.
Going back to this notion of putting in effort to fail. It is not meant to be a slide at anyone. Truthfully, I know students did not intend to throw away thousands of dollars by earning a GPA that will make it very hard for them for their remainder in higher education. It is fair to assume that there were probably one of two things happening. First, they were focused on the social and relational side of the college experience (i.e. partying too much) and academics fell to the wayside. Or the second theory is that they had some serious personal struggles that impacted their academic performance. That could encompass personal mental health, sudden death in the family, a disaster related to executive functioning, an existential crisis, or something else significant that falls within this arena. The common denominator in all these scenarios is that never did we say that the young adult was not academically capable to step-up and accept the collegiate-level academic rigors. That was decided in the Admissions process, long before they stepped foot on campus. They were always academically capable; it was just all the other stuff in their life that impacted their academic performance.
So, when you walk away from the fall semester having earned less than a 2.0, a student needs to know that they have to make some significant changes for the next semester to be any different. Additionally, they must understand that they are going to have to work even harder in spring because they may not have totally absorbed the foundational information needed to be able to take advanced coursework. And from a graduate admissions perspective, they are going to have to hustle to make themselves a viable candidate in their application pool. Guarantee they will have to explain either in person or through an essay regarding what happened during that fall semester when they earned a 1.0.
For questions or comments contact Joanna.
