Failing a class right before graduation can be very stressful. You needn’t worry, we’ve got your back. Discussed below is everything you should do when you are failing a class before graduation. Let’s get started.
Learn Your School Policy
First, find out your school’s policy on how many classes you must pass to graduate. Although you might have never failed a class before, the one you’re failing may be mandatory.
Examine Yourself
Ask yourself if you’ve been studying as hard as you should be. The only reason you may not be passing is because you’ve been distracted. Cut out anything that may be wasting your time hit the books hard. Try this for a month. If you don’t find the class easier, it might be time to speak to your professor.
Speak to Your Professor
Your professor would be available to talk to you during his office hours. Speaking to him or her is crucial, as they would guide you through what you need to do to raise your grade. You could also clear any doubts you may have about your study material.
What’s more, your professor would inform you of opportunities that you can take to gain extra credit. They would also recommend study material that could help you grasp complex topics better.
Find a Tutor
A tutor could help you understand any topics you find challenging. Your campus probably has tutors you could hire. This makes the hunt easier. As you can imagine, you would have to pay him for his services.
Instead of hiring a tutor directly from your school, you could hire someone externally. Maybe your friends know someone that you could work with?
Speak To a Student Counselor
Most universities have an abundance of student services. This includes counselors and coaches. You may not be failing the class because you find it hard, but because of a more complex personal issue. A student counselor would help you isolate and identify it. A lot of the time, the pressure of about to graduate throws students off.
The best campuses invest the most in student services. If you’re going to a more reputed college, you’ll likely be met with the most qualified counselors and coaches.
Speak to Your Academic Advisor
An academic advisor’s job is to keep students on track. It would be ideal to visit him regularly. They would guide you through everything you should do to avoid not passing.
Moreover, if you do fail, he would discuss what your next steps would be.
Unfortunately, you may be in college on a scholarship. You would have to perform at a certain grade-point average for your funding not to be revoked. Although you may not be failing your class, you may not achieve the required GPA, as the class in question could be tricky. Your academic advisor would help with this.
Be Positive
If you follow everything in this article, you should be able to save your grade. Keep your head up, and don’t be negative. If you’re constantly thinking about failing, you would be too upset to study.
Speak to your friends. They would help improve your attitude. Studying with them would be a good idea, as you would be learning in a positive environment.
Also, failing one class is not the end of the world. As mentioned, it would only be a big deal if you get bad grades for a mandatory elective.
Speak to Former Students
Do you know anyone that has sat the class you’re struggling to pass? You can speak to them and find out their tricks to passing.
They could have study notes that you could use to grasp any topics you find challenging. You could look at the assignments they’ve done too. This would help you tackle any projects you have to do.
Form a Study Group
Ask people from the class in question if they want to study together.
Studying in a group environment is excellent, as you will not only be learning in a positive environment, but being around your peers would motivate you to perform better too.
Also, if you’re doing your assignments together, you could read through each other’s work and provide constructive feedback. This could help each of you to pass.
Be Realistic
Even if you make use of the above tips, you may sadly still be failing the class. There could be time for you to drop it. If you do this, however, you will likely have to take another elective next semester.
Remember that your mental health is important. It may not be worth it to struggle so hard on the class when you can do something easier next semester.
Dropping a class when you’re going to graduate soon is a huge deal. You should speak to your professor and academic advisor and decide whether this is the right choice or not.
What Do You Do After You Graduate?
Hopefully, you’ve made use of the above points and passed the class. You’re now about to graduate. Once your degree is over, you might have no idea what to do next. This is perfectly natural. Most students feel overwhelmed after they graduate, as they have just completed a significant chapter in their life.
You don’t have to jump into work straight away. It’s alright if you take a break and then apply for jobs. Why don’t you and your friends take a couple of months off and explore? College was probably very stressful. You’ll appreciate going out and exploring before you jump into the corporate world.
In most colleges, students would have the opportunity to intern in their last year. If you interned during your degree, it would be wise to reach out to the company you were working for. You would have an excellent chance of landing a job with them.
Instead of going to work, you might think about doing your Master’s first. It would be easy to get into a postgraduate program in the university you did your undergrad in. At the same time, though, the college may not have a program you are interested in.
Just like with your bachelor’s, the university you do your Master’s degree in is significant. You want to do the course in a reputed institute. This would help with your career.
Instead of deciding between working and doing your Masters, you could do both. Many colleges let students enroll part-time for their postgraduate studies.
As you can imagine, doing a Masters would be expensive. Most students get into debt trying to pay for their bachelor’s. Figure out where you would get the funding for your postgraduate degree. If you happen to work while doing your postgrad, paying your tuition fees would be more manageable.
There are quite a few things to do if you’re not doing well in a class and you’re about to graduate. First, find out if you’d be able to graduate if you don’t do well in the elective or not. Hopefully, you may have enough credit to graduate even if you don’t do well in it.
Below are all the things you should do:
- Speak to your professor
- Hire a tutor
- Make use of your school’s counselor
- Speak to your academic advisor
- Cut out any distractions
