Your Guide To Securing That Last-Minute Grade Boost

It’s the last week of the semester and your grades aren’t quite where you would like them to be. Although you have already calculated that if you get good grades on the last few assignments and a certain grade on the final, it still seems like a stretch and you aren’t quite sure you will pull through. Right now you have an 89.9% and you know that means you have to get grades higher than that to boost it. Still unsure if that is possible, you begin panicking because you don’t know what to do. We have all been there before! Whether you had a 69.9 and needed a 70 to pass, a 79.9 and really wanted that B or an 89.9 and needed all A’s, nobody is perfect and sometimes we fall short. When that happens, what do we do? Most of us email our teachers right away and ask for a little extra credit but more than often, they aren't as willing to help our grade as they were to ruin it. Although many schools have implemented a new pass/fail system, some people may need the letter grade to boost their GPA or for graduate school requirements. I wanna share with you a few tips on how to go about asking for a last minute grade boost and how we can finally put the one-tenth difference (or more) to rest and get the grades we want. Please note that these tips will not help you at the absolute last minute so I suggest you start applying these as soon as you can while you still have time.

Make sure you don’t have any missing assignments 

The worst thing you could do is already have zeros in the gradebook. Not only does this show the teacher that you do not care, making them not want to help you, but you dug yourself into your own hole. We all know grades are about securing as many points as you can so if you willingly took several 0/25’s on homework assignments, what makes you think the professor is going to want to give you 5 extra points to save you from the mess you made. Make sure you make an attempt at every assignment. Even if it’s late or imperfect, anything is better than a 0 and can help increase your grade. 

Participate as much as you can in class and ask questions

Like I said before, teachers want to see that you care. Participating and showing effort in class can be a great way to demonstrate that and shows that you are actually committed to learning the material and mastering it. Don’t just log on to class everyday and scroll through twitter with your camera off. Actively engage in the lesson and make your presence known because they will remember that later when you ask for a boost. Also, do not be afraid to ask questions when you don’t understand. Make sure you fully understand the material and the assignments so you can get good grades on them in the future. 

Ask about extra credit

Before you go begging for free points, ask your professor if there is anything you can do to boost your grade that requires effort. Whether it be redoing assignments or completing something totally new, teachers are more likely to allow you to work for a higher grade than to just give you the points because you asked. Again, do not wait until the last minute to ask for these opportunities because the one thing the teachers hate just as much as students begging for grade boosts is having a lot of assignments to grade at the last minute. So just don’t be that person that pushes them to the edge and ask for the opportunity early.

Make your case 

When all else fails, you’ve got to beg. If you have tried everything else and they still won’t budge, you have to put your pride aside and plead. Send them an email and be sure to mention how hard you have been working all semester (but if you have 0’s in the gradebook, don’t even try it because you haven’t). If you consistently came to them for help during the semester, bring that up, and if you sought outside help, mention that too. Paint them a picture on how much effort you have put into passing this class and then just pray it works!

In a perfect world, there would be no need to ask for extra credit because it would’ve been done right the first time. We must remember that the world is not perfect and right now as we experience the second coming of the Roaring Twenties, we are still far from that. While you may need to use these tips now to help your grade, I challenge you to make a better effort next semester at being on top of things so you’re not in this position ever again! Be sure to comment below what you do for last minute grade boosts and for those of you who try these tips, let me know how it goes!

xoxo,

LD