Well this is it. We are in the final sprint. We have two weeks left of school and one week left before finals. If you are a massive ball of stress because you have been slacking all semester, and you need to do something radical to save your grades, you have come to the right place. Here are five things you can do to at least improve your grades!
- Be realistic
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This is probably the hardest one to do, but sometimes you just have to accept that there’s no way in hell you are going to get a 4.0 in the class. Calculate what is the maximum grade you can POSSIBLY achieve and strive to achieve that grade. RogerHub Final Grade Calculator is a free online tool that can help you find out what you need to get on the final to pass to get whatever grade you want in your class. Now, if you need at least a 140% on the final exam to pass the class then maybe just try harder next time. Sometimes it just be like that.
- Relax
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This time of the year is probably the most stressful period of time in a student’s life, but don’t get overwhelmed. Go to the gym, pet the therapy dogs in the library, go treat yourself to a mani-pedi or a massage, or even just go for some ice cream with friends. You can’t focus on something if you are too stressed out to do it. Get yourself into an environment where you know you will be able to focus (mine is the library) and create a schedule dividing your time to study for different classes, take a break and sleep.
- Don’t cram or pull an all nighter
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There have been multiple studies done that show why cramming is completely ineffective. This study done by Seattle Pi shows that cramming will only result in stress, lower retention levels and lower test scores. The best way to study is to spread your work throughout the week and take small breaks every hour or so. You need a break and so does your brain— and most importantly you need sleep!
- Go to office hours and review sessions
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I have personally found this super efficient. Most of the review sessions go over the study guides or sometimes even hint about what’s going to be on the exam. As for office hours, some professors and TA’s will tell you how to prepare for the exam— and some may even give you some extra credit work (but that’s just sometimes, some professors are just assh*les).
- If worse comes to worse, just retake the class
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As I said in #1, sometimes you have to come to the realization that it’s just not going to happen. There’s no way in hell that you are going to pull this off. So, worse comes to worse, you’ll have to take summer classes or just retake the class. My tip is take the class with a friend to make the class less boring, take the class with a different professor that has higher rankings in RateMyProfessor or get a tutor and spend more time in this class.
Hopefully these small but powerful tips will help you save your grades— or at least improve them. Start now. You got time. You got this. Good Luck!