Turn around a failing grade
Ever have a college course where you just didn’t get it? If the grades coming back from your coursework are not the grades you’d hoped to see, take action now to prevent your stumbles from turning into full-fledged failure.
In the September issue of EDGE, I wrote a story about surviving college pitfalls. Part of that story detailed how to turn around a failing grade. Some of the advice I learned from military education experts:
1. Talk to your instructor, and do it NOW. By admitting early on that there is a problem, you increase your options for dealing with it, said Bruce Solheim, volunteer veterans coordinator at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif.
2. Get a tutor. Former Navy Corpsman Christy Jacks was struggling with calculus at her school, Colorado State University, until she got help from a tutor at the school. She ended up with a B in the class.
3. Consider the source of your problems. Maybe it’s as simple as needing to devote more time to studying. But it could be something bigger as well. An undiagnosed learning disability or a wartime injury such as traumatic brain injury could be the stumbling block to your academic success. Talk to your professor, academic adviser or “if your school has one ” veteran services office about testing for a disability, said Ann Ingala, military veteran coordinator at Colorado State University.
4. Withdraw. If you are far enough along in the semester that all hope is gone, withdrawing from a class is most times a better option than getting a failing grade, Ingala said. Then, consider taking the class at your local community college. If you do have to retake it at your school, get help from a tutor from the start.
5. If you do fail the class, and failure does happen, do damage control, Ingala said. Ask about options such as retesting.
