So you didn’t do so well on last week’s midterm? A lot of other students are in the same boat. If you’re a first-year, this may have been the first college midterm you’ve ever taken. Even if you’re a senior, midterms are no one’s friend. As a junior, I’ve taken way too many midterms, so I speak from experience when I say that midterms are not the be-all, end-all of your life. One bad grade doesn’t mean you won’t graduate college or find a good job, but I know that it can sometimes feel that way. So, here’s some advice on how to handle a less than stellar midterm grade:
1. Don’t freak out
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Like I said, one bad grade won’t hurt you. When you get your grade back, don’t panic, don’t cry, and definitely don’t plan on dropping out. So what if you got a below average grade? Maybe you were having a bad day. Maybe you psyched yourself out. Maybe you just didn’t study enough. Whatever the reason, it’s not the end of the world and you can recover from this.
2. Meet with your professor
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Don’t know what went wrong? Set up a one-on-one appointment with your professor or TA (or, even better, go to office hours) to discuss what you missed on the midterm. You could’ve misunderstood a key concept, leading to you misinterpreting a lot of questions. You could have understood the material completely but not have tested well. There are various reasons why you might not have aced this midterm, but you won’t know why if you don’t talk with the person who graded it.
3. Ask for help
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Never be afraid to ask for help. Whether it’s memorizing a formula for physics or writing mathematical proofs, there is someone on this campus that can help you. The Academic Resource Center on East Campus has a (free!) Peer Tutoring Program for many introductory courses and they also have learning consultations available, so they can help improve your study habits and test-taking skills.
4. Get ready for the next one
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Just when you think they’re done, you have to start studying to take another midterm. There are many lessons we can take from failure, but you can’t learn them if you won’t confront what you did wrong the first time around. So, take what you learn from your professor and the ARC and apply it to your study routine for that next midterm. Take a deep breath and roll with the punches, because one test is not going to stop you from being the best you can be.
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