October is notorious for a few things: great weather, the return of our favorite fall TV shows, Halloween… And oh yeah, midterms. It’s crazy how half the semester has gone by already, leaving us with many long nights studying in the library (and if you’re like me, lots and lots of coffee!). Of course, everyone is aiming for an A. But what happens if you study like crazy and you still end up with a grade that you’re not too happy about? Don’t beat yourself up over it! If you do these few simple things, you’ll be sure to feeling better about yourself, and your grade, in no time.
1) Talk to your professor
Your best bet is to go to your professor’s office hours or make an appointment with him or her within a day or two after getting the exam back. They may have calculated the grade wrong, and you might end up with a few extra points. If that’s not the case, ask them why you got points deducted, rather than argue with them and demand that your grade be raised. Tell them that you really want an A in the class (or A-, B+, etc. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself!), and ask them what you can do next time around to get it. They’ll appreciate your interest in their class and usually, most professors will take that into consideration when they calculate final grades. Actually listen to their advice, too!
2) Reward yourself
You studied hard! Remind yourself that you couldn’t have studied more if you tried, and there’s nothing else you could have done – the test was out of your control. Go to MacMart and get yourself some junk food (cough cough Nutella), catch up on all the Revenge episodes you missed, or go out with your friends and let off some steam.
3) Be proud of yourself
Instead of being hard on yourself and getting upset over your grade, praise yourself for the good things that came out of it. Remind yourself that studying hard, pushing and challenging yourself are all admirable and definitely shouldn’t be overshadowed by a not-so-hot grade.
I think what many Tulane students fail to remember is that college is hard! You’re not going to get all A’s all the time. In the long run, that C on your chemistry midterm isn’t going to affect your life too drastically, so don’t be so hard on yourself. Plus, you still have another half a semester to make up for it! Use this as an opportunity to motivate yourself to do better, and just think of how great you’re going to feel when you see that A come up on Gibson after finals.