Failed a College Class? Here’s what you should do about it

College curriculum consists of variety of courses and it is natural to think that one can’t be perfect in all of them. Even top notch students have sometimes failed a college class. Getting an “F” is an extremely hard thing to bear. However, it is not the end of your life in any means. But it is a good idea to plan your schedule and study plan to minimize the overall damage and prevent it from happening again.

So, if you failed a college class, here are some of the things you can do about it.

An Eleventh Hour Effort may do the trick

It is only 5 minutes to 12, meaning your semester is about to end and you have realized that you are about to fail in a college class. But there is still some time. What you should do? Throw everything at it. Give all you have and leave nothing to spare.

If you do have sometime left before the professor has finalized the grades, you can look for opportunities to earn some extra credit and save yourself from that red F.

However, you need to think why you are failing in the first place. If it is the lack of attendance, then it is unlikely that the professor will help you, but still it is worth the try.

Also, if your final exams are yet to take place and you feel that you cannot overcome the deficit of mid-term no matter what you do, then you should consider withdrawing the course, if it is available in your institution. You would still need to have another go at it again, but it won’t affect your CGPA that much.

Consult your professor

Even if there is nothing your professor can offer you to earn some extra credit. You still got to talk to him.

You have to claim responsibility for your failures. And after claiming the responsibility for your actions, the professor will come to know that you genuinely want to improve your situation, and it makes him or her to sympathize with you, and is more likely to help you, and he/she might give you an extra hand next time.

However, don’t wait until it is too late. Talk to your professor as soon as possible.

Analyze your overall CGPA and then decide

In case if you have failed a college class, you need to analyze your overall CGPA.

If the subject in which you have failed has high credit hours and affects your CGPA crucially, then you should give it a second go in summer semester or additional semester, whatever is available in your institution, where you can solely dedicate yourself to that course. Instead of taking it along with other subjects of next semester and try to get the best possible grade.

However, if that course is not that much crucial, just don’t waste time on an extra semester and just carry it along with other courses of next semester.

Talk to your parents

You got to talk to your parents. Because telling your parents that you have failed a college class will leave you one less thing to stress about.

Moreover, parents will ideally, give you hope and would give you emotional support, which you need so much under such disastrous period.

Analyze the reasons why failed

Be honest and analyze why you failed in the class in the first time. Understanding the reasons why you failed will help you get much better next time.

These are some of the most common reasons why students usually fail in a college class.

1. Procrastinating on assignments: Finish your assignments on time and start working on them as soon as possible. Don’t leave them till the last night before submission.
2. Focusing too much on one subject: There are always subjects you love too much and some you hate. However, it does not mean you only stick to one subject and turn a blind eye to other. Try to balance them.
3. Being a back-bencher: Being a back bencher is not bad. However, it keeps you away from the professor’s eye during the lecture. If the professor does not knows you and does not recognize your involvement in the class, then it is more likely that he will not mark your paper with a high zeal. In vice verse, if professor knows that you have been working hard in class, then it is possible that he/she give your paper much thought and try to give more marks. Its natural.

Rethink your career options

If you still are not able to pass a course, then maybe you are pursuing a wrong degree. Albert Einstein once said:

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

So, maybe the degree you are pursuing is not just for you. If that is the case, take a step back and rethink your options and opt for what you love.

Learn from your failure

Failing in a college class is a heart-breaking scenario. But you can learn an important lesson here, that how to get back up when you fall. This is a very important lesson.

A person who has never failed in anything may not know how to deal with failure and if something like that happens in professional life, it might break the person.

Luckily, you are still in college, because you always have another chance to pass that course again and get back up. You can carry this important lesson to your professional life and there you would be more trained to deal with failure in comparison to your colleagues.

Now, i am going to quote from the Batman Begins movie, when Bruce asks Alfred that why do fall? Alfred replies “So that we can learn to get back up again”.

Take your positively, and learn from it.

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These articles below will surely help you staying away from this scenario in the first place:

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