Raise Your Grades Quickly

Whether you’re in college, high school, middle school or even primary school, grades are important. Your middle school grades help you get into advanced courses in high school. Your high school grades help you get into college. Your college grades help you get a degree and then a job. But not everyone is a straight A student, and that’s okay. Learning to overcome whatever problem or problems are causing your low grades will put you on the long-term road to success.

Steps

Improving Your Grades over the Short Term

  1. Assess where you are in the semester and what you have left to do.[1] Do you need to improve your grades in only one class, or many? Do you have assignments left to be submitted, or only the final exam? Make a list of all the classes you currently have, what needs to be done for each class, and the due dates for all assignments and exams.
    • In order to get the “big picture,” use a calendar to mark out all your assignment due dates and exam dates.
  2. Assess your current studying techniques thoroughly.[2] Sit down and think about how you’ve been studying up until this point. Analyze what has worked and what hasn’t - then ask yourself why. Make a list of things you want to avoid doing in the future (e.g., procrastination) - and don’t do them. Figure out what your motivations for studying are and take advantage of them.
    • This is a good opportunity to learn how to do a S.W.O.T. (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) analysis.[3] The SWOT analysis method was designed for businesses, but can easily be adapted to your personal academic situation.
  3. Talk to your teacher. Ask your teacher(s) for advice on how you can improve, and where you might have gone wrong.[4] Keep in mind that this conversation could go one of several ways. If you’ve been a lazy student up until this point, and you’re now asking for help, some teachers are not going to be impressed. Make sure you approach them sincerely and then actually follow through on their advice. If you ask for their help and then don’t follow it, they’re probably not going to be too thrilled to help you again in the future.
    • Ask your teacher if there are any assignments you can do for extra credit.
    • Ask your teacher if you can hand-in any outstanding assignments, even those past the deadline. Or if you can re-do any assignments you did badly on.
    • Ask for help as soon as you know you're having trouble. Do not wait until the last minute to ask for help, or to ask for things such as extra credit. In most cases it will be too late for you.
  4. Talk to your parents. Your parents don’t want you to get bad grades, and if you admit you’re having problems, they will likely want to help.[5] Even if all you need them to do is constantly follow-up with you to make sure you’re doing your work, asking for help is a good idea.
    • Keep in mind that showing this initiative to your parents may help them provide additional support to you in the future. For example, if they see you’re having a lot of trouble with math, they may be able to hire a math tutor to work with you the next semester or during the summer.
  5. Create a study schedule and get yourself organized. Look through your calendar of things you still have to do and make a detailed schedule. Assign specific study goals to yourself everyday, and the times each day that you’ll spend on studying.[6] Try not to schedule large amounts of time for one topic unless absolutely necessary. Try to study more than one topic per day if possible.[7]
    • Remember that smaller chunks of daily study time are more effective than a huge cram session or two.
    • If you're in college, you should plan to study 2-3 hours per week for each credit hour you're enrolled. So, if you're in a 3-hour history class, you should plan on studying an additional 6-9 hours per week for that class. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is -- and it's what it usually takes to get good grades.[8]
    • Don’t forget to reward yourself for meeting your goals.[9] These rewards just need to be small things to keep you motivated to move forward day-by-day - such as allowing yourself an hour to watch your favourite TV show, or an hour to play a video game. Save the big rewards for when the semester is done!
  6. Buckle down … and stay buckled down till it’s over. While not the best advice, if you are down to the wire, cram. Stuff in as much as you can, in whatever time you have left. Drink lots of caffeinated beverages. Forego (some) sleep. Consider this your “hail mary” play and do the best you can.[10]
    • Avoid getting distracted during cram sessions. Turn off your phone and the TV. Don't listen to music with lyrics. You have very limited time, so use it wisely.
  7. Make plans for the next school semester or year. This is, of course, assuming this wasn’t the last semester of school you’re ever going to take! If school is not over, take this opportunity to get yourself ready for the next year or semester.[11]
    • Buy yourself an academic calendar or organizer.
    • Review your course syllabi before classes begin.
    • Make sure you have all the materials you need for each course before the start of the semester, if possible.
    • Organize your study space.
    • Research the various ways of getting academic support on your campus (i.e. success centres, writing centres, tutors, etc.).
  8. Go to summer school. No one likes going to class in the summer, but if you’re looking to improve your grades this is definitely an option. You may want to consider re-taking a class over the summer (to increase your grade) or taking a supplemental class to help you prepare for a hard class you have coming up.[12]
    • At the post-secondary level there are additional benefits to taking one or more classes in the summer term: you can reduce your workload in the fall and winter terms, or reduce the total amount of time you spend in college; some summer programs are offered in other countries or at other colleges, giving you a chance to travel; if you’re aiming to take a specific course with a prerequisite, you can get the pre-req out of the way early.[13]

Preparing Yourself for the Next School Year

  1. Complete a post-semester assessment. Ask yourself a series of questions about how you performed over the semester in order to analyze what went well and what didn’t go so well.[14]
    • What did you end up doing differently after deciding to raise your grades? Did any of it work? How much did your grades improved, if at all? What did you find worked really well for you, and what did you find worked really badly for you? Is there anything you’d like to do differently next time?
    • Think about the study methods you took on that really helped and make sure you build them into your permanent repertoire.
    • Think about what didn’t work and why it didn’t work. Maybe you tried to study at home and found it was more distracting than you’d like, etc. Make sure to avoid these items in the future.
  2. Get yourself organized.[15] Buy yourself an academic calendar and/or a large wall-mounted white-board calendar. Clean up the space you intend to use for studying, remove anything you don’t need (books, magazines, comics, etc.) and organize the things you do need (pens, pencils, highlighters, sticky notes, etc.) Make your study space a distraction-free zone. Organize your study materials in a way that makes sense to you and allows you to find things quickly.
    • Have a separate notebook or binder for each class you're taking and label them appropriately.
    • Have pens and highlighters of different colours to signify different things in your notes and textbooks. For example, blue might mean examples, whereas yellow means definitions.
    • Turn your cell phone or tablet off while studying. And if you're not using it, turn the wi-fi off on your computer while studying. Don't give into the temptation to check your email or text messages!
  3. Talk to your teacher(s) in advance.[4] If you’re serious about improving your grades, your teachers will help. Ask them their advice on what to focus on in their class and what methods of studying work best for their material. Ask them if you can review assignments with them before you hand them in.
    • Keep track of your teachers’ contact information and office hours in a centralized location. Each week review where you are in each course and determine if you need to take advantage of your teacher’s office hours, and if you do, schedule it in.
    • When asking for advice, try to avoid saying things like "What's important in your class?" or "What do I need to do to get an A?" These suggest that you aren't actually invested in the class. Instead, ask questions such as "What types of questions do your exams usually focus on? I'd like to know how to improve my note-taking" or "What advice would you give a student who really wants to do well?"
  4. Join or start a study group. Work with friends or classmates, as a group, to learn the material and work on the assignments. Quiz each other. Do sample tests together. Take turns “teaching” each other the material.[16]
    • It is advantageous, but not necessary, to have some structure to your study group, such as: a pre-determined meeting time and place, specific study session goals, and an informal leader or moderator.
    • Study group members do not need to be your friends. In fact, it might be better if they weren’t. Getting together with your friends to study might turn into socialization time, which isn’t helpful.
  5. Take care of yourself physically.[17] Make sure you always get a good night’s rest. Eat properly every day. And exercise as often as you can. Taking care of yourself physically will help make sure you can take care of yourself mentally.
    • Taking care of yourself also means taking breaks when studying, like getting up and walking around every hour, and rewarding yourself for meeting your study goals.
  6. Get a tutor. Tutors can be folks you’ve hired to spend time working with you on a specific subject, but it can also include your school’s success centres.[15] Most post-secondary institutions have tutoring centres (manned by graduate students), writing centres (that offer both seminars and feedback on actual papers), and success centres (where professionals can provide you guidance and feedback). Some of this extra help is free, while some has a cost associated with it.
    • If you’re interested in hiring a tutor, ask your teacher for recommendations. They’ll know which former students did well in their class and who might be able to help you.

Improving Your Grades over the Long Run

  1. Read assigned material before and after each class. Prepare yourself for what your teacher is going to talk about in class. Write a list of questions you have about the material and make sure they’re all answered in class. Review the material again immediately after class and make sure you understood all the concepts discussed; if not, follow-up with the teacher right away.[18]
    • Try reading the material out loud to help it stay in your memory.[19] Your cat might find molecular biology quite fascinating!
  2. Attend all your classes.[17] As crazy as it sounds, this actually works! Some classes even provide credit for attendance, so skipping a class like that is just throwing points away. Pay attention in class.
    • Attending class shows your teachers you’re actually interested in learning. If you need help in the future, they’re usually more willing to help someone who has already shown initiative.
    • If you really want to show initiative, sit in the front of the class. Not only will this make you more visible to your teacher, but the rest of the class will be out-of-sight behind you, hopefully removing any distractions they may cause.
  3. Take excellent notes in every class.[20] Take notes for every class using a method that works best for you. Review your notes immediately after class and rewrite them to help the concepts stay in your memory. Make sure to highlight any tips or hints your teacher gave about an assignment or test.
    • Focus on key items in your notes, such as: dates or timelines, names of people and why they’re important, theories, equations, definitions, pros and cons about a topic debated in class, images/charts/diagrams, example problems.[21]
    • Use a system of shorthand for your note taking if possible. This includes using symbols instead of words (e.g., “&” instead of “and”), and abbreviating words (e.g., “approx.” instead of “approximately”).[22] Make up your own abbreviations if that helps.
    • Don’t worry about your spelling and grammar when taking notes (unless it’s an actual language class teaching spelling and grammar!) - you can correct that later if you need to.
    • Gear your note-taking to the course. Some courses can benefit from highly structured methods such as the Cornell method, while others -- such as those that are very discussion-heavy --will benefit from more free-form notes.
  4. Participate in every class.[4] This is especially important if your teacher provides grades for participation. If there are participation grades, teachers aren’t looking for quantity as much as they’re looking for quality. Participation also demonstrates your understanding of the subject matter to the teacher. They may determine, through class participation, that they’ve explained something badly and re-explain.
    • Class participation can often turn into a class debate - a teacher’s dream come true! If you disagree with what a classmate has said, you can say so, but be respectful. Don’t turn the debate into an argument.[23]
  5. Do your homework assignments as soon as possible.[24] Don’t wait until the night before they’re due to start working on an assignment. Begin homework assignments the same day they were assigned (if not known about in advance) or build the work required for the assignment into your study schedule (if known about in advance). Plan to get your homework done in advance so you can review and revise without pressure.
    • Finishing writing assignments early is especially important as students often lose points on simple things like spelling, grammar, layout, etc. Plus, if you finish a writing assignment early enough, you may be able to get your teacher, tutor or someone else to review it and provide feedback.[2]
  6. Hand in any outstanding assignments. Every assignment in every class is worth something. Some teachers have a system for how they grade late assignments. Depending on the teacher, you may be able to get at least some points for an assignment even if it's late.[25] And when you’re desperate for marks, every single one counts!
    • Check with your teacher or class syllabus before doing outstanding assignments. If the teacher will not accept them, and you’re short on time, it may not be useful to complete them.
    • If the teacher won’t accept late assignments, but you do have the time, use the assignments as practice tests and complete them. Most teachers will provide an answer key you can use to determine how well you did.
  7. Ask your teacher for extra credit.[26] It never hurts to ask, and the worst that can happen is your teacher says no. If you do ask for extra credit, and your teacher provides you with an extra assignment or two, make sure you actually do the work.
    • Don't wait until two days before your term ends to ask for extra credit! This suggests that you were lazy all semester and want an easy grade fix. If you're struggling, ask sooner rather than later.
    • There is a never-ending debate in the academic community regarding “extra credit.” One side thinks it’s great, the other side thinks it’s bad.[27] Each of your teachers is probably on one of these two sides, and has a good reason for being there (such as their own past experience). While there’s no harm in asking for extra credit, it is not worth arguing about if your teacher says no.
  8. Learn and understand the material, don’t just memorize. Actually being able to understand what you’re learning is far better than simply memorizing everything in your textbook.[28]
    • Make sure you’ve perfected one topic before moving onto the next topic, especially if they’re linked.[7] Most textbooks and classes are set up in such a way that each consecutive chapter/lecture builds on the stuff learned in the previous chapter/lecture. If you haven’t learned the previous material, it’ll be much harder to learn the current material.
    • Use personal or familiar situations to help you understand the material.[29] Textbooks (and some teachers) tend to use boring examples when explaining concepts and ideas, but that doesn’t mean you have to. For example, if you’re learning about Newton’s First Law of Motion where it states that “an object in motion continues in motion … unless acted upon by an unbalanced force” try to think of examples where this makes sense for you.[30] Maybe ‘’The Fast and the Furious’’ … the cars will keep travelling until something stops them. (Not the greatest example, but you get the idea!)
  9. Read all exam instructions completely before starting the exam and then follow them.[31] For some strange reason, one way students lose points on tests is because they don’t actually read the instructions and do what they say!
    • For example, have you ever had that situation where a section of a test asks you to choose 4 of the following 6 topics to write an essay about, but you end up writing an essay for ALL 6 topics? This is a clear situation of not reading the instructions, and then losing valuable time doing work you didn’t need to do, possibly at the expense of completing other parts of the test.
    • There is also no reason why you have to do the test in the order it’s written - unless each question builds on the previous one. Look through the entire test first, then start with the easiest questions and work your way to the hardest questions. This will help build your confidence as you write the test.
    • Tests aren’t the only place where you need to follow the instructions precisely. If you’re writing an essay and the teacher asks for double-spaced lines with 12pt Times New Roman font and 1” margins - then DO that. Don’t use single-spaced lines with 10pt Arial font and 1.5” margins!

Tips

  • Many schools offer tips, seminars and workshops on topics such as note-taking, procrastination (how to stop it, not how to do it!), public speaking, powerpoint presentations, grammar, time management, stress management and more. Find out what your school offers and take advantage of those programs.
  • There is a never-ending list of apps available for free that can help you manage your time and assignments. If you don’t already have a favourite app, try a couple out and then commit yourself to using one for at least one semester.
  • Remember to stay on top of assignments.

Warnings

  • Different schools have different policies regarding the ability to postpone or rewrite final exams due to illness. Some, but not all, schools may require a doctor’s note, or a note from your parents. And many will not allow you to leave an exam, once you’ve started it, and come back to finish it later. One way to avoid these hassles is to simply take care of yourself and not get sick around exam time! But if you do feel ill, read up on your school’s policies right away and talk to your teacher ASAP. Do not wait till the last minute, if possible.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/structures-for-student-self-assessment/458
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/improve-underperforming-grades.html
  3. ↑ http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://getcollegecredit.com/blog/article/how_to_improve_your_grades_at_the_end_of_the_semester
  5. ↑ http://www.universitysurvival.com/student-topics/learning-how-to-communicate-with-your-parents-about-your-grades/
  6. ↑ http://www.howtostudy.com/create-a-study-plan/
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/improve_your_grades.html
  8. ↑ https://www.umflint.edu/advising/surviving_college
  9. ↑ http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/avoiding-procrastination/
  10. ↑ http://elc.uark.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Effective-Cram-Session.pdf
  11. ↑ http://advising.buffalo.edu/succeed/academicplanning.php
  12. ↑ https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/why-attend-summer-school.html
  13. ↑ http://ualr.edu/fountain/2015/03/23/twelve-reasons-you-should-go-to-summer-school-yes-summer-school/
  14. ↑ http://www.developer.com/mgmt/article.php/1561881/The-Importance-of-Post-Project-Reviews.htm
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 http://www.advancetitan.com/opinion/article_6800a9cc-d8e9-11e4-8368-f35e40554df5.html
  16. ↑ http://arc.duke.edu/documents/How%20to%20Form%20a%20Successful%20Study%20Group.pdf
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 http://www.howtolearn.com/2012/01/how-to-improve-your-grades-and-get-a-better-report-card/
  18. ↑ http://www.howtostudy.com/read-text-slowly-before-and-after-class/
  19. ↑ https://www.brainscape.com/blog/2011/10/reading-out-loud-remember/
  20. ↑ http://educhoices.org/articles/20_Easy_Ways_to_Raise_Your_Student_GPA_in_College.html
  21. ↑ http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/advice-for-students-taking-notes-that-work.html
  22. ↑ http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers-advice/managing-your-career/1006/top-ten-tips-on-note-taking
  23. ↑ http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/class-participation-contr/
  24. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1nHtq10HD4
  25. ↑ http://family.snhu.edu/Resources/policiesandprocedures/COCE/Pages/Late%20Assignments.aspx
  26. ↑ http://teacher2b.com/strategies/excredit.htm
  27. ↑ http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/does-extra-credit-have-a-place-in-the-college-classroom/
  28. ↑ http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/when-memorization-gets-in-the-way-of-learning/279425/
  29. ↑ http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2011/08/ep-158-tired-of-low-grades-5-ways-to-raise-your-test-scores-and-1-warning/
  30. ↑ http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/Newton/law1.html
  31. ↑ http://www.martynemko.com/articles/up-your-grades-how-turn-those-bs-and-cs-into-as-and-bs-in-hurry_id1458
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