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6 Things to Do If You’re Falling Behind in Your College Classes

Falling Behind 12 08 2022

College can be very exciting and engaging. There are a lot of activities and events that you could be involved in, but what about your academics? The whole point of college is to further your education so you can graduate and enter the workforce. What happens when all of the outside activities become too much, and your grades start to slip? Don’t worry, we’ll talk about six things that you can do if you’re falling behind in your college classes.

Attend Class

As we said earlier, college can be very fun, but it can also be very daunting. There are a lot of things happening on a college campus, your primary focus should be on attending class. Make sure you attend your classes every day and come with an open and eager mind ready to absorb the information and focus intently. Take as many notes as you can. Ask questions frequently. Sit in the front row. Turn off your phone. You’re paying a lot of money, so make sure you get a good ROI (return on investment).

Take Notes

We mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth repeating again. When you go to class, take as many notes as possible. This will absolutely help you in the future when you’re studying. Make sure to ask questions if you don’t understand a note, or you could ask your professor to repeat themselves just so you are clear on what they said and understand the material. You can never take too many notes. Think about this in terms of money, wouldn’t you rather have a lot of money than a little money? Exactly! So it’s better to have more notes than fewer notes.

Make Friends

Making friends outside of class can absolutely be beneficial in catching up on your grades. Think about it, they are learning the exact same material you’re learning. Become friends with another person, or a group of people, and get together outside of class to discuss the subject matter, quiz each other, copy notes from each other, etc. In a group setting, you could bounce ideas off of each other and open up a dialogue that might expand your mind and help you learn more about the information you learned in class. Plus, after the class is over, you have made a new friend, or friends, that you could still hang out with. Win-win!

Attend Office Hours

What are office hours? Office hours are dedicated times that professors are in their offices and are available to meet with you. Attending a professor’s office hours can be very beneficial because you’ll receive one-on-one attention from the professor. You might get some questions answered in class, but there’s only a limited amount of time for the professor to teach that class, and they have a lot of material to cover, so they might move along quickly in class. But if you schedule a time to meet with your professor outside of class during their office hours, you’ll have more time to chat and talk about how it’s going and what you could be focusing on in a calmer, less rushed setting.

Do Your Homework

Homework isn’t meant to be a nuisance. It’s designed to help you learn the materials and retain the information outside of class. It’s important to do the homework that’s assigned to you and make sure it gets done to the best of your abilities. Don’t slack off and half-complete an assignment and consider a “C” to be an acceptable grade. If you’re falling behind in class, a “C” shouldn’t be acceptable. You should strive to get an “A” and keep getting “A’s”. This means that you’re learning and retaining the information. So, it’s always good to stay up-to-date on your homework and to try your hardest, even if Keeping Up with the Kardashians is on TV.

Sit in the front row

One last tip to help you catch up in class is to sit in the front row. It might be appealing to sit in the back row and be on your phone during class or chat with your classmates, but then you’ll never catch up on your grades. Sitting in the front row will help you stay alert and be right up close to the projector screen, whiteboard, etc. You’ll also be closer to the professor as well and will be able to hear them clearly and understand what they are saying. Don’t listen to the saying that “only teacher’s pets sit in the front row”. That’s absolutely not true. The front row in a classroom is a prime spot for someone who needs to ask questions, take copious amounts of notes, and catch up on their grades.

We hope that those tips will help you catch up on your college classes. If you’re still struggling with your grades, don’t worry! We have tutoring and other academic resources available at both ECC and MCC to help you! Reach out to us, we’re always here for you!