Not getting the grades you want? Follow these tips to get your academic progress on track
Does it seem like no matter what you do, your grades just aren’t where you want them to be? Don’t despair. Grades don’t mean you’re not smart enough, or that you’ll never get the grades you want. Getting high marks is about working smarter, not harder. Do that, and you’ll find that getting better grades is easier than you thought.
Take Stock
Many students think that to improve academically they need to overhaul everything they do related to school success. Before you do that, take the time to review what you already know. Compile all your previous grades in each class and look at why you got those grades. Did you lose points because you didn’t turn in assignments on time? Were you not as prepared for a test or class discussion as you should have been? Did your grades suffer from poor writing? If you’re not sure why you got the grades you did, talk to your teacher. Teachers can provide valuable insights on your progress in class and can also share ways for you to get ahead.
Once you’ve identified the reasons for your grades, look for the best way to turn things around. Keep in mind that everyone’s issues are different, and you may have more than one to tackle. That’s OK, and for many students, to be expected.
Create a Course of Action
The first thing to do is make a plan. Changing your study habits may mean you’ll need to set aside an extra hour each night to work on math or get up earlier in the morning to review for a big test. Build these changes into a new routine. To make your new approach feel more real, write your resolutions down. That way you’ll be more likely to follow through. Writing down your new routine will also help you visualize how you’re using your time, and it will ensure you can still fit in extracurricular activities and downtime.
The plan gives you an overall outline of how you’re going to spend your time, but getting — and staying — organized ensures you can stick to the plan. This may mean color-coding your notes, working on the hardest assignments first, or setting a specific amount of time to work on each class assignment. Organize yourself in a way that works for you.
Reach Out for Help
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Whether that help comes from a teacher, parent, study buddy, or tutor, getting it can be the difference between a decent grade, and a great one. Take advantage of after-school help in the classroom, or office hours. This time not only provides you more direct access to your teachers, it allows them to see how hard you are working to succeed. Many teachers take this into account when it comes to final grades. A tutor can also provide you with one-on-one instruction that can help you learn the material at your own pace, in a different way than it was taught in class, and with plenty of time to ask questions. For more on finding a tutor, see the Spring 2018 issue of Winds of Change.
Put in the Effort
Show up: to class, to office hours, to tutoring sessions. There’s no way you will achieve the grades you want without being present. This doesn’t mean you can’t miss a class here or there, but being present in the classroom lets you access the information you need to do well, and many teachers make class attendance and participation part of your overall grade. Showing up is an easy way to get points, and those points could be just what you need to get the grade you want.
The most important thing you can do to improve is to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe you can succeed, you won’t. Have the confidence to know that you are taking the necessary steps to get better, and that while your grades may not improve dramatically overnight, they will begin trending upward. If you believe in yourself and try these tips, your GPA can become what you’ve always wanted it to be.
David Gordon Buresh is an author, journalist, gamer, and activist from New Hampshire. Originally from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, he was raised as part of the Abenaki Nation and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a BA in English. He currently resides in Manchester, N.H., still along the Merrimack River. He is a member of the Global Campus Career Services team at Southern New Hampshire University, where he is currently pursuing a master of science in organizational leadership. He has worked with the Lakota Kids, United American Indians of New England, and Aloha Aina activism groups.
Did you get good grades from the start, or was it something you had to work at?
Initially, I found it very easy to achieve good grades. I have always been skilled at taking tests and had a great deal of support from my family initially in learning how to write effectively. It was not until high school that I met any significant challenges, and by then it became as much a matter of overcoming bad habits as laying down good habits. This continued well into my college years, with my largest challenge perpetually being time management. I have a habit of taking on more than I should, and more than once maintaining good grades across an overflowing academic plate has been more than I can handle.
Over the years, what study habits have worked best for you?
I developed a significant portion of my good study habits to balance my chronic overcommitment. Step one is finding a time management method that works for you. I break out my day into blocks of hours, organized on a spreadsheet, with study time clearly delineated. I budget for more time when I’m approaching significant milestones, or when I identify greater challenges in any given week. Step two is holding yourself to that schedule, while maintaining a balance between the various demands of your life. If you skip an hour of studying on Tuesday, find a way to include it on Wednesday. Prioritize your education and be disciplined. Especially in college, you’re in charge of your own education, and you’ll get more out of it if you put more into it.
Do you have any tips for getting better grades or for study habits in general?
A study tip that I’ve found useful is to engage with the subject using more than a single sense. In a traditional classroom setup, this usually involves both writing notes and listening to a lecture. If you have a recorded lecture, play it while taking a walk you know well. If you’re reading a book, leave a pot of tea or coffee steeping where you can take in the aroma. Your mind can encode information along several vectors at once. Memory and analysis both can be affected by your surroundings and peripheral perceptions. Use this to your advantage to make it easier to remember what you are learning.
Another tip is to open a dialogue with your professors about the subject matter, even if you’re not having difficulty. Many professors are actively engaged with the information, and nothing beats an engaged expert when you’re learning. Showing the same level of engagement and interest as they do will allow you to more thoroughly grasp the key points. This is even more true in graduate school where students are expected to be scholars, and thus nearly the peers of their instructors.
Have you taken advantage of study groups? What was the experience like?
I have found study groups to be a bit hit or miss. For me the most useful study groups resemble a group of friends from different backgrounds who share an interest in the topic. The most essential dynamic, in my experience, is engagement. Find a study group that matches your own level of engagement, as engagement and interest in the subject matter are far more important than familiarity.
Do you find that sticking to a study routine is best?
Absolutely. I’m very much a person of habit who needs a daily routine to properly manage how much time I spend on any given project, even leisure activities. I hold myself to strict, step-by-step deadlines so that I can evaluate my progression through the course material and shift my time budget accordingly. If I know I have to have two chapters read for this week’s assignment, I’ll take an hour to schedule my week with a deadline for finishing chapter 1, and a second deadline for chapter 2, with a third deadline for that week’s assignment. That way, I can determine early on if I’m falling behind and put in the extra effort to catch up.
What advice do you have for preparing for a big test?
Aside from the standard “get rest, be hydrated,” my secret to testing well is using secondary memory triggers to increase my ability to recall and process information. I’ll be sure to do my most intense studying at the same time of day as the test, so my body’s natural day-night cycle aligns with what I’m being tested on. If you wear jewelry, wear a ring or bracelet and deliberately fidget with this piece of jewelry while studying. Wear the same piece of jewelry to the test, and if you hit a particularly hard question, fidget with that piece of jewelry. As I said earlier, your mind encodes information through many vectors. The more “senses” you have engaged during a study session, the more ways back you can build to access that information.
What words of encouragement do you have for those struggling to get good grades?
Make room to learn every day. Habit is the root of all behavior, so collect habits that make you stronger and work to remove habits that make you weaker. Above all, give yourself room to fail, and don’t despair when you do. In the words of Malcolm X, “There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”
