GPA vs. Living on Campus & Commuting By: Alan Beavers, Joanna Stolarczyk and Rachel Quillen

Survey Results Live on campus or commute? Commuter 47% On Campus 53% Scholarship? Yes 41% No 59% Hrs/ day studying? < 1 16% % % 4 < 25% Have you ever used on campus tutoring? Yes 47% No 53%

Survey Results Con’t On Campus tutoring? % % % 4 < 19% Overall GPA? < % % % 3.5 < 41% Better GPA in opposite living arrangement? Yes 47% No 53% Fresh. 43% Soph. 18% Jr. 29% Sr. 11%

Out of the 32 students interviewed, there were 12 freshman, 5 sophomores, 8 juniors and 3 seniors 53% of the students interviewed were On Campus students Of those 17 On Campus students, 11 students (65%) have used On Campus tutoring. Out of the other 15 students that were commuters, none of them used On Campus tutoring. Most students kept between a 2.6 and 4.0, but out of the 4 students that had a 1.5 or below, 3 (75%) were commuters. 47% of students felt that they would have a better GPA in different living arrangements while the other 53% felt that they were in the best situation. Out of the 17 students that lived On Campus, 10 (59%) feel that they are in the best living situation for their GPA. Out of the 15 Commuters 8 (53%) felt that if they were in the opposite living arrangement they would have a better GPA Survey Analysis

Interview 1. Do you think the students who live or campus or the commuters have a better GPA, why? Students that live on campus have a better GPA. He feels this way because they have closer access to all the things they need in order to be successful i.e On campus tutoring, library, other students, etc. My interviewee thinks that the students that commute have a better GPA because they have more study time and they are not distracted by friends or roommates. People who live on campus because they are in an environment where they are surrounded by helpful resources. 2. How do you feel in the position you are in, do you think your GPA could be different if you were in the opposite situation? He has a GPA between 2.6 and 3.5 (didn’t want to say specifically) and he is ok with that. He says that if he was in the opposite living arrangement his GPA would be higher because he would be closer to what he needed. If my interviewee lived on campus she thought her GPA wouldn’t be high. Her parents wouldn’t push her to do better. She would spend more time with friends than studying. I feel like i'm getting the help I need being on campus, I don't think my GPA would be different.

3.What are the things that you think affect your GPA? List all possibilities (work, too much school work, stress, family) Why do you think these affect it? He feels that all of these factors affect your GPA in some way. Personally, he says that his GPA is negatively affected because of how much he works and still has to help with family matters. She also said if she goes out too much on the weekends, she would have less study time and her GPA would go down. When shes home her family members distract her because they always talk to her. Athletics (because of the hours it consumes) also tv and other friends on campus because it distracts me from my studying. 4. Do you live on campus or off campus? How do you spend your time studying? Off Campus. He spends most of his time cramming last minute unfortunately, because the time he would have to study is interrupted by different things, including work, other school responsibilities, and family. Off campus, When she studies she tries to eliminate all distractions, like tv, music, phone, and goes somewhere quiet. On campus, in the Grizz (study room for athletes) 5. Do you study because your GPA has to be at a certain level? Either for a major or a sport; if so for what and how high? He says that he is not here on scholarship, so his GPA does not have to be over a specific number. He does however like to try to keep his GPA over a 3.0 for personal reasons, the main one being he likes getting good grades My interviewee wants to keep her GPA high for a major because shes in the pre-med program and needs a good GPA to get into med school, not sure what the required GPA is. For a sport; 3.0

Interview Results After analyzing the three interviews there were some disagreements but there were also some clear patterns that supported our hypothesis. 2 out of the 3 interviews said living on campus was better for maintaining a high GPA. Although that goes against our hypothesis we noticed that the interviewees admitted that living on campus distracts students from the actual learning and studying that should be taking place at school. The interviewees all agreed that there are helpful resources here on campus to help achieve their desired grades. Although no matter where you are there will be distractions, being here on campus theres more and theres not really anyone (such as parents and family) pushing you to maintain a high GPA and to get your work done.