Got your grades back from midterms and feeling less-than-thrilled?
Nothing sucks more than feeling like you studied your butt off only to still get the test results back and see that you didn’t do as well as you’d hoped. The good news is, while midterms are important, they usually won’t “make” or “break” your semester grade (depending on how your professor grades the course).
Even if it seems like a total mystery as to why you didn’t do as well as you wanted, there’s usually a good explanation…
Reason #1 Why Midterms Kicked Your A$$: You Didn’t Actually Study
Okay, yeah, we’d all like to believe that we studied really hard and did what we were supposed to do, but sometimes it literally just comes down to time spent going over notes, the text and reviewing past quizzes/tests.
Listen, I get it: sometimes there’s simply so much to study for that one or two classes slip through the cracks. But you have to be honest with yourself when you look back at time actually spent hitting the books.
Reason #2 Why Midterms Kicked Your A$$: You Didn’t Actually Study the Right Stuff
So you spent hours cramming over the material, only to find that you focused on the wrong section.
#Frustrating!
Sometimes, studying the “right” stuff comes down to really listening to the professor in class through the semester. What areas does he/she focus on? The scary truth about college exams is that a lot of the time you just have to know the professor’s preferences.
In other words, what sorts of questions does he or she like to ask? How does he or she like to see work written out, what’s his or her style?
A great way to get answers to these sorts of questions is to talk to students who have taken classes with this particular professor in the past.
Another great way to get these answers? Pay attention to your midterms. Notice the sorts of questions on the test. It’s likely that those kinds of questions will also be on finals.
Reason #3 Why Midterms Kicked Your A$$: You Didn’t Study the Right Way
Turns out, there are more effective and less effective ways to prepare for testing. According to PsychCentral, there are things you can do to make your time in front of the books more effective.
Things like being mindful about your study location, time of day and even the thoughts you have as you’re going through materials makes a difference. (In other words, trying to cram at 2 am when your roomie is watching Twilight for the 5th time and you’re feeling hangry? Probably not the best time).
No matter how you fared in midterms, remember that we’re only half way through the semester! You still have time to make up the difference.
And by the way, you’re not in this thing alone. If you’re serious about doing better, check out Luvo’s extensive database of class notes and peruse some of the best online tutors available.
You can do it, and there are many people who want to help!
