So You’re Failing A Class

It happens sometimes. Regardless of what the reasons might be, you’re failing a class. Hopefully, you have become aware of this relatively early in the semester when there are still many things you can do to remedy the situation. Even if you have found out around midterms, you still probably have a fighting chance. But if it’s the last few weeks of the semester, there may be little you can do.

This is why it is so important to keep track of your grade in the class throughout the entire semester. If you know there is a specific grade you need to earn in a class for financial aid, scholarship, or transfer purposes, you need to focus on behaviors geared toward earning that grade from the very beginning of the class.

Here are some steps to take if you are failing a class.

• Talk to the instructor and ask for a breakdown of your grades. He or she may have helpful suggestions on what you need to do to improve your grade and probably can advise you as to whether you have any realistic chances of passing the class. Remember, the later you check into the problem, the less likely it is that it can be fixed.

• Take a look at the work you’ve done so far in the class and figure out where the weaknesses are. Do you procrastinate on out-of-class assignments? Are you losing points on reading quizzes? Do you panic when a major test is coming up? Are you unsure of how to write a paper? Find out what is tripping up your grade, talk to your instructor, and see if there is tutoring available to boost your confidence in the trouble areas.

• Look closely and honestly at your approach to the class. Are you truly putting quality time and energy toward learning the material and earning the grade you want?

• Multiple learning resources are readily available for most classes. Are you reading the textbook? If your textbook has free online supplements for students (most of them do), are you using them? Are you taking good lecture notes? If the class uses an online learning management system such as Blackboard, are you logging in and checking for updates frequently?

• Talk with more successful students in the class. Find out what their approaches to studying for the class are and see if their suggestions will work for you. You might want to see if there are any active study groups or if there is interest in forming one.

• See whether you are still able to drop the class without a penalty of some kind on your transcript. It would be a good idea to talk with your academic advisor before you do so.

• If none of the above is possible, you may simply have to retake the class. Consult with your academic advisor. Being aware of what went wrong the first time you took a class can be a powerful tool to use in successful completion of the class the second time around.

Staying On Track With Academic Advising

Whether you are a first time freshman or an experienced college student, getting academic advising is one of the smartest moves you can make. Here's a short list of what an academic advisor can do to save you time, money, and headaches.

Helping you select classes that keep you moving efficiently toward your goal. This is important whether you are working on general education classes or proceeding through classes in your major. Satisfying general ed requirements can be surprisingly complicated. Take a look at this document from Cal Poly Pomona as an example. The first page looks simple enough, but then all heck breaks loose on the following pages. When you move on to classes in your major, your academic advisor will know valuable stuff like whether a particular required class is only offered once every academic year. This is more common than you might think, so having that information can prevent you from wasting time and money waiting a whole year for the class to come around again.

Making sure you take classes in the right sequence. Not all classes in a discipline will have formal prerequisites in place to limit registration in non-introductory classes to those who have already taken the introductory class. For instance, my discipline is psychology. Students who register for the second-year personality psychology course without the benefit of taking introductory psychology tend to have a much harder time of it. This is something that a savvy academic advisor will point out to you.

Providing practical advice on creating a balanced class schedule that will give you the best shot at excelling. I once knew a student who put off taking four very work-intensive required classes until his last quarter before he planned to graduate. All of them were likely to require several major papers each. He registered for all of them at once, even though he was working two part-time jobs as well. I honestly don't know what the outcome was, but it was certainly not one of the better choices I've known a student to make. Academic advisors can help steer you away from self-defeating scheduling decisions.

Sharing information about other valuable campus resources and opportunities. Curious about study abroad? Need an on-campus job? Looking for an internship? Want to do some research with a professor in your major? Your academic advisor might have the inside scoop on these and other gems of campus information. At the very least, he or she should be able to accurately direct you where to go and who to ask.

Giving support, encouragement, and guidance when the going gets tough . . . or even if things are going great. Academic advisors are there to make your educational journey as smooth a trip as possible. They are great first points of contact when you hit bumps in the road, and they also enjoy hearing about when you passed that tough class, you were selected for the internship they suggested, and the award you earned.

It's an excellent idea to meet with your academic advisor at least once per semester just to make sure everything is on track. However, if things are not going as well as you like, don't hesitate to meet with your academic advisor more often.