Mid-term Grades

Not all colleges and universities post mid-term grades, but if your student’s does, now is a good time to ask them to review their mid-term grades with you. If grades are good, keep up the good work! If not, there are a few things to consider before you panic.

1. Most mid-term grades only reflect one or two grades on quizzes or papers and are typically lower than final grades. Some faculty will even list a grade of “I” or “Incomplete” because there have not been enough opportunities for students to earn a valid grade. The student should always check the syllabus or login to an online classroom site for the class to understand how their mid-term grade is actually being calculated. If this information is not posted in the syllabus or online, the student can always meet with the professor to find out how the grade was calculated. 
2. If the grade is low (a D or C) but not failing, now is an ideal time to start working with a tutor or increasing study hours to boost grades in the second half of the semester. Most freshmen employ the same study strategies they used in high school and these approaches are simply insufficient for college classes. Sometimes, students just need to spend some time with a tutor or academic counselor to learn more effective study techniques.
3. If your student feels like the grade is too low to raise, even with extra help or outside work, they need to set up an appointment with the professor or an adviser immediately to discuss ways to either salvage the grade in the class or drop the class to save their overall GPA. *NOTE- Some scholarships or grants require a specific GPA to maintain the award, so staying informed of those requirements will help students decide on the best course of action. 

Surviving Low Final Exam Grades

Students who earn a low final exam grade can be deeply disappointed, but you can help them gain perspective by remembering some of these tips:

• If your child calls about failing a final exam, listen and let him or her express their disappointment. Unless they specifically ask your advice, just be their “shoulder to cry on” and let them know you’re still proud of them for trying hard and you are willing to help them work out a plan to salvage a low GPA after final exams week.
• Remind them at the they will take between 40 to 50 classes just to earn an undergraduate degree, so one low final exam grade, in one class, will not damage their entire academic career as much as they think.
• Ask if the class can be repeated during the summer. If so, the student may consider repeating the class to raise the grade. Some colleges and universities allow students’ grades in repeated classes to replace the original grade in the GPA calculation. A review of the institution’s grading or “academic forgiveness” policies can shed light on whether or not your child’s college has such a policy.
• Offer a reality check. Students on a semester term have 16 weeks to earn the grade they want in the class, so trying to make an A on a final exam for a class in which the student has a D average simply isn’t realistic. This is not to imply that the student should not bother to study, but sometimes students need a reality check that only a parent can give.
• Ask if they need a certain grade in the class to graduate? If not, it is wise to simply accept the grade and not worry about repeating the class. Students are often worried about not having a 3.0 or higher GPA to post on their resume, but many students post their “major GPA”, or the GPA in the classes taken only for the major requirements, on their resume too. This allows them to essentially explain an F or D in a non-major related class that may have no bearing on their future employability or graduate school admission.
• Stay positive even when your child is not. During final exams it is important for your child to focus on the exams as they come and not worry about disappointment or criticism from parents. I firmly believe that constructive criticism is necessary, but expressing your disappointment or critiquing your child during final exams is counter-productive. Be positive and supportive now, and worry about expressing your concerns or disappointment later. After final grades for all their classes are posted, your child can evaluate what worked and what did not in terms of studying, prioritizing projects, and time management, and can develop a plan to improve their grades in the future. 

The First Semester Grade Drop

Unfortunately, holiday cheer can be dampened when first semester grades arrive. If you are unpleasantly surprised by what you see on your student’s first grade report from college, you’re not alone. Many students see a drop of a letter grade or more between the grades they saw in high school and what they earned in their first semester of college. There are a few common reasons for this:

A 4.0, or “perfect”, GPA in high school is fairly common these days.  When our generation attended high school there may have been one or two students who were able to maintain a perfect GPA and each high school probably only had one valedictorian.  This is no longer the case, and many students from a variety of high schools have never made anything below an A in any class.  This is simply a result of grade inflation* in high school and unfortunately it can do a lot of harm to a student’s psyche when they arrive at college and realize they are one of many “perfect” students vying for top grades.

There’s more to the first semester of college than a GPA. In addition to attending 15-18 credit hours worth of class each week, your child has also had to learn how to navigate an entirely new world.  Everything from how and where they live, shower, eat, and socialize is completely new and learning the ins and outs of college life is emotionally and intellectually draining. Even students who earned a 2.0 GPA have actually learned a great deal from college in their first semester.

College is harder than high school. When I relay this fact to students most of them give me the “Duh, no kidding” look, but some are surprised. They think that they can employ the same strategies they used in high school and earn the same grades, but that usually doesn’t work. Students are in college classrooms less than half of the time they were in high school classrooms and they have to do much of their reading, writing, and learning on their own or in student groups. In addition, college classes require that students think through problems critically and develop their own solutions based on research, their own or someone else’s. In other words, in addition to simply answering questions, they have to explain why they answered in that way and how they came to their conclusions. This is the mental equivalent of heavy lifting and it takes time for students to get used to flexing their intellectual muscles.

If your child is disappointed by his grades in the first semester, don’t worry. Most students’ grades rebound during the next semester after they adjust their study and time management habits. If your child needs help with these issues, a visit to a study skills center, academic counselor, or attending a workshop on these topics can give him the information, skills, and motivation he needs to improve his grades in future semesters.

* http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/issues.pdf

http://research.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/publications/2012/7/researchreport-2011-2-investigating-grade-inflation-non-equivalence.pdf