Perfect for high school and college students who want to improve grades, develop skills, and balance academic and extracurricular activities.
Universal template for all types of SMART goals
Career objectives and workplace performance goals
Academic success and skill development goals
Campaign KPIs and measurable marketing objectives
Health, finance, and life improvement goals
Raise my overall GPA from 3.2 to 3.6 by the end of spring semester 2025 by attending all classes, completing assignments at least 2 days before deadlines, studying 2 hours daily using active recall techniques, and attending office hours weekly for my two most challenging courses.
Achieve conversational proficiency in Spanish by completing Duolingo's intermediate level (200 lessons), practicing 30 minutes daily with a language partner, and scoring at least 80% on the semester final exam by December 15, 2025, to fulfill my language requirement and prepare for study abroad.
Develop leadership skills by running for and winning a position as Vice President of the Student Marketing Club, organizing at least 3 networking events with 50+ attendees each, and mentoring 2 freshman members throughout the academic year, measured by completion by May 2026.
"Do better in school" means nothing. Say "get an A in Calculus II" or "read 15 books this semester." Be specific about the class, skill, or activity.
Use numbers: GPA, test scores, assignments completed, study hours. Track weekly in a planner or app so you know if you're actually improving or just hoping.
Be honest about your current grades, course load, and time. Challenge yourself, but don't set goals that require sacrificing sleep or sanity. Burnout helps no one.
Does this goal help your major, career plans, or personal growth? If it's just busywork that doesn't serve any real purpose, you won't stick with it.
Tie deadlines to your academic calendar — semester ends, midterms, application deadlines. Break semester goals into monthly checkpoints so you're not cramming everything in finals week.
Set 2-3 academic goals and max 1-2 extracurricular goals. Use a calendar to block time for each. Best case: your activities support your academics (debate club helps with presentations). Review weekly and adjust if one area is suffering.
3-4 goals max. Try 2 academic (specific courses or study skills), 1 skill development (coding, language), and 1 personal/extracurricular. First-year students should start with just 2-3 while adjusting to college. Quality over quantity.
Use a simple spreadsheet or app like Notion to log metrics (study hours, test scores). Do a quick weekly check on Sundays — 15 minutes to see if you're on track. Having a study buddy to check in with helps too.
