How to Bring up Your Grade Towards the End of the Semester

By Vivian El-Salawy on April 19, 2018

Maybe it’s senioritis, maybe you’re a college freshman and you’re just burnt out from senior year of high school – either way, the last few weeks of classes tend to catch us off guard. Post-spring break is usually a time affiliated with helplessness, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are just a few ways on how you can bring up your grade towards the end of the semester:

Communicate with your professor

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Hopefully, you’ve been interacting with your professor one-on-one throughout the semester, whether it’s a quick comment or question after class, an e-mail or two, and so on. This can be incredibly helpful because it’s these little attempts at communication that can go a long way in showing your professor that you truly care about the class and the material. If you’re in a hole, they are more likely to help get you out of that whole, whether it’s an extension on an assignment or a retake.

However, if you haven’t, it’s not too late.  Don’t be afraid to approach your professor with any questions or concerns you may have. Ask questions about the final exam or final project or visit them during their office hours to discuss your progress within the class thus far. Through discussing your weaknesses and strengths, that could save you a crazy amount of time preparing for whatever assignments you have left and may steer you in the right direction.

Utilize your resources

If you haven’t utilized all of your resources, then you’ve hardly tried. The first step is to learn about the resources that are available to you. Check out if there is any tutoring for your subject in the library or online. Have you talked to any teaching assistants/graduate students from the class about needing extra help? Have you e-mailed your professor, your colleagues, or even the person that sits right next to you every day in class? If you haven’t, then don’t hesitate to reach out! Some people feel embarrassed or ashamed over needing a tutor – don’t! Everybody learns in different ways and at different paces, and who knows, you might learn more than you expected from the perspective of another person.

Study a little bit every day

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This is something that almost every professor tells their students, but almost no student listens to them – but it’s a game changer! If you take fifteen minutes after the end of every class to reflect on your lesson for the day (whether it’s on the way to your next class, or even while you’re in the bathroom), that can work miracles. When it comes to studying for an exam, you’ll really only be reviewing at that point, rather than relearning.

Learn new strategies 

Maybe you’ve been studying on your own this whole semester because you’re intimidated to study in a group. If studying by yourself is what you know works for you, then keep on doing it. If what you’re doing isn’t working for you, branch out – make some note cards, find a new group to study with, or have your roommate quiz you every hour. What tends to be effective for most people is studying in a group, reviewing the material as a group, helping one another out through individual weak points, and once everybody (yes, everybody) is comfortable, quizzing each other on the information.

Extra credit

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Some professors don’t believe in extra credit, and some do. Sometimes, there are research opportunities that you can involve yourself in (which are not only beneficial to yourself, but to your local, collegiate departments as well) or other participatory events that can help boost your grade, whether it’s a fundraiser or a miniature assignment.

But I don’t have time. Well, this is where it becomes important to prioritize. If it’s a social event that’s in the way, or a weekend getaway that you’ve had planned for months, think about what is most important to you – especially down the line. If your professor is not a believer in extra credit, don’t hesitate to ask individually (just don’t be pushy if the answer is “no”).

Retake an assignment

Depending on the class, some professors let you retake an exam, a quiz, or even redo a project with the appropriate corrections or adjustments. If time permits, do it. If time doesn’t permit, find the time to do it anyway. The smallest boost on an assignment may make all the difference with your final grade in the class, and ultimately with your grade point average as well.

Always be inquisitive

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This doesn’t happen very often, but there are always possibilities for error on hand-graded assignments. If you were marked down for an error on a paper or exam, don’t be afraid to ask why. Sometimes professors make mistakes, as do any of us as humans. As long as your appropriate and reasonable with your approach, you may receive points back for an error that they may have made with your grade. Sometimes, it’s all about your attitude – if you approach them with an aggressive and defensive attitude, even if there is a mistake with their grading, then you may be pushing your luck.

Best of luck with finishing off the spring semester, whether you’re a senior counting down to graduation, or a freshman that’s just getting comfortable in their major. Every point counts, and there are plenty of things you can do to bring up your grade, but at the end of the day, don’t harp over it to where it beings to affect your mental health. At the end of the day, you’re a human, and humans make mistakes. Sometimes, those mistakes might be our next big breakthrough.

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