Help Students Make Their Best Grades + Scholarship Deadlines

Marianne Ragins and The Scholarship Workshop LLC

• Attend class, be attentive, and ask questions (particularly for class participation credit).
• Learn your instructor’s office hours and use them! Or, if you’re a current high school student, know when and how to ask your teacher for help.
• Ask for help and extra credit work before you need it. Never wait until the day before the exam or the end of the semester to get assistance in a class that is difficult for you. Last minute requests for help usually result in a poor outcome.
• Pay attention to your course syllabus. Review it often.
• Post all exam dates or approximate dates prominently in a wall calendar or handheld organizer with an automatic reminder.
• Monitor where you are in the course constantly. After your first exam, sit down with your instructor or teacher to review where you stand in terms of grades for each area outlined in your course syllabus. If you did not do well on the first exam, ask your instructor for additional help or study ideas.
• For all reports and papers due for your classes, always go the extra mile. Even if not required, always include the following extra touches:
  • Cover page with appropriate graphics that include instructor’s name, course title and number, date of submission, your name, and student number unless otherwise instructed.
  • Page numbers.
  • Table of contents.
  • Table of illustrations, tables, and charts.
  • Bibliography or works cited (ask the instructor if there is a specific format to follow for a research paper in their class). Include at least five sources for a research paper. When researching use a variety of sources. Do not rely solely on the Internet.
  • If in doubt, ask for an example. Visit your instructor and ask to see an example of an A paper received from a former student. Ask what key items contributed to the grade for the paper. Strive to do as well or better on the paper you submit. Even if they don’t say it specifically, most instructors are impressed by a well-presented paper. This means delivery and content matter.
• Never miss the class just before the exam. Many instructors will review for the mid-term or final exam during this period.
• Always take notes in class. Some instructors will structure their exams based partially or entirely on class lectures and examples.
• Even if it seems like the instructor is not following your course materials (books, workbooks, etc.), make sure to keep up with your reading. Some instructors will give exams based entirely on the course materials and examples shown in them.
• The college exam process is not like high school. You may have no more than one or two exams before your final. This means your opportunities to improve your final grade with a better grade on the next exam are very limited. If you flunk or bomb out on the first exam, your next opportunity may be a midterm, leaving you only one chance to affect your grade with the final exam. Even if you are in high school, you should always strive for the highest grades on every test so your GPA will be positively affected by your best grade in the class.
• Never take a wrong answer or failed/poor exam grade and move on. Always visit your instructor or a study lab to find out why the answer is wrong or your answer is unclear. Some instructors may give similar questions or review the same concepts on the next exam. This means that if you don’t understand why you had problems on the first exam, you’ll probably do poorly on the next exam if the same concepts are tested.
• If you miss the deadline date for an assignment, don’t settle for an F. Ask your instructor if you can turn it in late for reduced credit or an automatic one letter grade reduction.

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