So you failed a course this semester in college. Or two courses. Or three. Depending on your situation, it's either having tell it all to your parents and friends, the fact that you've never failed anything in school before, or your plummeting GPA that now keeps you up at night.
The damage is done, but you need to know exactly how damaging it is, and what to do to fix it? Will you just need a band-aid or stitches?
FINANCIAL AID AND SCHOLARSHIPS
You may already know this, but to those freshmen who possibly don't, if you receive financial aid to cover college costs, a less than 2.0 GPA can cost you your eligibility to continue to receive it. Luckily, this is a cumulative GPA rule. So if you managed to get a one point something GPA for one semester, the past semesters should be your saving grace.
Of course, if you are a freshman in your first semester, a 2.0 or above GPA is a must. Reach out to and keep in touch with not only your financial aid office throughout the year but also other offices at your school. The staff and faculty are here for YOU and can help if you connect with them early on and be honest about your mistakes and what you need.You're surrounded by lots of supporters.
Scholarships may also have certain GPA requirements and even requirements limiting how many years you can spend earning your degree, which leads to the next important thing to evaluate.
LOOK AT YOUR DEGREE PLAN
If you plan on retaking the classes you failed in subsequent semesters, go ahead and map out the change it will have on your degree plan. Will it cause you to stay an extra semester? Will you have to take some classes in the summer? Answering these questions is a lot easier if you have mapped out each semester of your four (or five) years. If that is too much work, try mapping out all the courses you are required to take in a flow map.
With this, you will always know which classes are "next". It's also good for measuring the impact or priority of a course. For instance, do you need to retake this class ASAP or will you wait for the next year? Failing a class that is the prerequisite to one other course is not as much of a setback as failing a class that is the prerequisite to five other courses. (I'd retake the latter ASAP). Ultimately it all depends on when you plan to graduate, when you plan to study abroad and when you plan to do an internship.
(HINT: Find your degree plan requirements on the course catalog page of your university website. Or ask your advisor for a print copy one.)
HOW DID YOU FAIL?
This is the biggest question your parents will probably have, but try to step back from the emotion of defensiveness when thinking about the question. The question is not an attack to make you feel ashamed or embarrassed, but rather a guidance system.
Maybe the format of the course threw you off and you weren't ready.
Or you were so stressed out over rent or a member's passing. Perhaps you just couldn't follow the professor's lectures and their tendency to get off-topic.
Or like many of us, you hung out a little too much and didn't pay attention to all those syllabus changes.
Whatever it is, if you know the conditions under which you fail, you know what what you need to pass.
RETAKING THE CLASS
Once you've decided that retaking the class is right for you, know how many times your school allows you to retake or drop a class. For example, schools in my state allow students to fail or drop six times before it is no longer an option. There may be a financial aid requirement as well. Both your academic and financial aid advisor will be able to let you know when it's not safe to retake a class again.
Make sure you retake the class under optimum conditions. If you hated the professor in the section you failed, retake a different section of the class, and even try to find info on the professor beforehand. Avoid choosing an early morning, late night, or weekend section if you can. You get the gist - make passing this class as easy as possible.
Well what if the information is uniquely challenging? I hate to break it to you, but studying harder and talking to your professor won't help much, as you've probably already experienced. After all, we won't be receptive to all kinds of information. Instead, study smarter, and by that, I mean with people.
Work on assignments that are not explicitly individual in groups. Try completing an assignment on your own and sharing your work with other classmates so that they can critique it. If they have corrections to make, have them explain why they believe an answer is correct, and take notes on their reasoning.
If you still don't understand enough on your own, but can follow someone else's work, then do just that with as many example questions as you can find. Tutors at the university are there for just that. Bring them some questions that are all the same and ask them to walk through them, while you take notes. You will be surprised what repetition can do for you.
ELIMINATE STRESS
You need as little stress as possible and trying to hide failing courses is stressful and will only reinforce negative thinking. So be transparent to your friends and family. Being transparent gives them the opportunity to talk you up, to support and encourage you. Even if you only receive scolding, you will be happy not having to keep anything a secret.
Think about your successes during the semester and allow yourself to relax, reflect, and plan for better.
BE PROUD
You have the advantage of knowing what to expect when retaking a class. This means you can do many things ahead of time - like actually reading the book chapters - without the feeling of stepping into the unknown that accompanies many students when taking a class. You know your strengths and weaknesses thanks to the experience. It says a lot when you are able to take failure and keep moving forward to success. It takes more grit to fail and overcome than it does to simply succeed, so hold your head up high and be awesome this semester.
The damage is done, but you need to know exactly how damaging it is, and what to do to fix it? Will you just need a band-aid or stitches?
FINANCIAL AID AND SCHOLARSHIPS
You may already know this, but to those freshmen who possibly don't, if you receive financial aid to cover college costs, a less than 2.0 GPA can cost you your eligibility to continue to receive it. Luckily, this is a cumulative GPA rule. So if you managed to get a one point something GPA for one semester, the past semesters should be your saving grace.
Of course, if you are a freshman in your first semester, a 2.0 or above GPA is a must. Reach out to and keep in touch with not only your financial aid office throughout the year but also other offices at your school. The staff and faculty are here for YOU and can help if you connect with them early on and be honest about your mistakes and what you need.You're surrounded by lots of supporters.
Scholarships may also have certain GPA requirements and even requirements limiting how many years you can spend earning your degree, which leads to the next important thing to evaluate.
LOOK AT YOUR DEGREE PLAN
If you plan on retaking the classes you failed in subsequent semesters, go ahead and map out the change it will have on your degree plan. Will it cause you to stay an extra semester? Will you have to take some classes in the summer? Answering these questions is a lot easier if you have mapped out each semester of your four (or five) years. If that is too much work, try mapping out all the courses you are required to take in a flow map.
With this, you will always know which classes are "next". It's also good for measuring the impact or priority of a course. For instance, do you need to retake this class ASAP or will you wait for the next year? Failing a class that is the prerequisite to one other course is not as much of a setback as failing a class that is the prerequisite to five other courses. (I'd retake the latter ASAP). Ultimately it all depends on when you plan to graduate, when you plan to study abroad and when you plan to do an internship.
(HINT: Find your degree plan requirements on the course catalog page of your university website. Or ask your advisor for a print copy one.)
HOW DID YOU FAIL?
This is the biggest question your parents will probably have, but try to step back from the emotion of defensiveness when thinking about the question. The question is not an attack to make you feel ashamed or embarrassed, but rather a guidance system.
Maybe the format of the course threw you off and you weren't ready.
Or you were so stressed out over rent or a member's passing. Perhaps you just couldn't follow the professor's lectures and their tendency to get off-topic.
Or like many of us, you hung out a little too much and didn't pay attention to all those syllabus changes.
Whatever it is, if you know the conditions under which you fail, you know what what you need to pass.
RETAKING THE CLASS
Once you've decided that retaking the class is right for you, know how many times your school allows you to retake or drop a class. For example, schools in my state allow students to fail or drop six times before it is no longer an option. There may be a financial aid requirement as well. Both your academic and financial aid advisor will be able to let you know when it's not safe to retake a class again.
Make sure you retake the class under optimum conditions. If you hated the professor in the section you failed, retake a different section of the class, and even try to find info on the professor beforehand. Avoid choosing an early morning, late night, or weekend section if you can. You get the gist - make passing this class as easy as possible.
Well what if the information is uniquely challenging? I hate to break it to you, but studying harder and talking to your professor won't help much, as you've probably already experienced. After all, we won't be receptive to all kinds of information. Instead, study smarter, and by that, I mean with people.
Work on assignments that are not explicitly individual in groups. Try completing an assignment on your own and sharing your work with other classmates so that they can critique it. If they have corrections to make, have them explain why they believe an answer is correct, and take notes on their reasoning.
If you still don't understand enough on your own, but can follow someone else's work, then do just that with as many example questions as you can find. Tutors at the university are there for just that. Bring them some questions that are all the same and ask them to walk through them, while you take notes. You will be surprised what repetition can do for you.
ELIMINATE STRESS
You need as little stress as possible and trying to hide failing courses is stressful and will only reinforce negative thinking. So be transparent to your friends and family. Being transparent gives them the opportunity to talk you up, to support and encourage you. Even if you only receive scolding, you will be happy not having to keep anything a secret.
Think about your successes during the semester and allow yourself to relax, reflect, and plan for better.
BE PROUD
You have the advantage of knowing what to expect when retaking a class. This means you can do many things ahead of time - like actually reading the book chapters - without the feeling of stepping into the unknown that accompanies many students when taking a class. You know your strengths and weaknesses thanks to the experience. It says a lot when you are able to take failure and keep moving forward to success. It takes more grit to fail and overcome than it does to simply succeed, so hold your head up high and be awesome this semester.
"All my failures crush your successes."
- Jaden Smith
"Success is not final. Failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
- Winston Churchill
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