DR. WALLACE: Our high school has an online portal that shows all student grades, our yearly and cumulative grade point averages (GPA) and other statistics. These statistics are password protected, meaning that only the family or authorized individuals can see any particular student's grades.

I just finished my junior year and I was reviewing my GPA. I looked at the last school year and my cumulative GPA during my three years of high school. I noticed an error that was slightly against me! Although I received a B in one particular class, it looks like I was given only the grade points for a C grade. This impacted my junior year GPA a noticeable amount and slightly lowered my cumulative GPA.

Should I go back to my school and say something immediately? Summer classes are starting soon, and I can point this out. Or would it be better to wait until the next school year starts? — I Deserve a Corrected GPA, via email

I DESERVE A CORRECTED GPA: Indeed, you do deserve to have your record corrected, and in my mind, there's no time like the present. You can indeed stop by your school office once it opens during the summer time for summer school, or you can have one of your parents make a call to the school and point out the inaccuracy.

I trust your high school will quickly fix the error and also look into what happened that caused the error. Not only will you get your rightful credit, but you may be helping the school to fix a weakness in their statistical gathering and calculation methods.

OUR PARENTS KEEP SHUTTING US DOWN!

DR. WALLACE: My twin sister and I have never been in the same class during our two years of high school, largely by design so that we can each blaze our own path and hang out with our own friends and classmates.

But we both ended up wanting to take the same class this summer to get ahead for our junior year, and it's only being offered at one time by one teacher, so for the first time, we'll be in a classroom together.

We are both pretty good students, but my sister has already started taunting me, telling me that she's going to get a higher grade or at least better cumulative test scores than I will! I've told her that's not going to happen, and this prompted her to want to make a bet about it.

Our idea was that the winner would get two full weeks off from doing our usual assigned home chores, and have the loser do their chores plus the winner's chores! However, our parents got wind of what we were doing, and they put a screeching halt to our idea. Both our mother and father told us that no matter who got better grades or test scores, we were each going to be maintaining our own chores throughout the summer and into the next school year, no matter what.

My sister and I then wanted to make a side bet of $20, but our parents shut that down as well. Is there anything else you can think of we could wager regarding this class performance that might be acceptable to our parents? — We Both Thrive on Competition, via email

WE BOTH THRIVE ON COMPETITION: Why not look for a suitable charitable organization that you both could spend some time doing volunteer work at?

I suggest that you both participate, but the loser has to do extra days. For example, if you found a local place to do charitable volunteer work, the winner would do the first two days of the week, and the loser would do all five days of volunteer work that week. This would generate seven shifts of valuable volunteer work somewhere in your community, and I think you would both be better from the experience if you can pull this off.

I feel your parents would be quite likely to approve such a friendly wager when the stakes are helpful to society, especially given the fact that for the first two days, both of you will do the volunteer work side-by-side with no money involved!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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