Is Failing a Class in College a Big Deal

When the semester comes to a close and you find yourself failing an important college class, it can feel like the end of the world. The good news is, its not. Here are some tips to keep things in perspective.   A Last-Ditch Effort May Be Worthwhile If its the end of term and your grade is final, youre probably stuck with it. But if you have some time before your professor finalizes your grade, ask what you can do to avoid failing. The professor may give you guidance on what to do for the rest of the term to get your grade up, or perhaps youll find out about opportunities for extra credit. Before you ask, think about why youre failing in the first place. If its because youve been skipping class or not putting in enough effort, its unlikely your professor will want to help you. The Consequences of Failing a Class   There are, of course, negative consequences to failing a college course. A failing grade will likely hurt your GPA (unless you took the course pass/fail), which could jeopardize your financial aid. The failure will end up on your college transcripts and could hurt your chances of getting into graduate school or graduating when you originally planned to. Lastly, failing a class in college can be a bad thing simply because it makes you feel awkward, embarrassed, and unsure about your ability to succeed in college. Then again, your college transcript may never come into play when you start looking for jobs. Your situation might also help you better understand yourself as a student. It might be the kick in the pants you needed to grasp the importance of going to class on a regular basis, doing (and keeping up with) the reading, and reaching out for help when you need it. Or your failed grade might be the epiphany you need that you really are in the wrong major, that you are taking too heavy of a class load, or that you need to focus more on academics and less on your extracurricular activities. The Next Steps   Try looking at the bigger picture: What are the bad parts of your situation? What kinds of consequences must you deal with now that you perhaps were not expecting? What changes do you need to make about your future? Conversely, dont be too hard on yourself. Failing a class in college happens to even the best of students, and its unrealistic to expect that youll be able to do everything perfectly in college. You messed up. You failed a class. But in most cases, you probably didnt ruin your life or put yourself in some kind of disastrous situation. Focus on what good you can take away from what is undeniably a bad situation. Consider what you learned and what you need to do to ensure this doesnt happen again. Going forward, do whatever you need to do to keep making progress toward your academic goals. If you ultimately succeed, that F wont seem so bad, after all.