It’s my junior year of high school, I have a current 3.94 GPA but I just did very badly on a math test (75) and I can’t breathe.
My grades are now:
Honors English - 95 - A
Honors US History (school doesn’t offer APs) - 94 - A
Honors Precalculus - 91!!! (after this disaster of a test) - A-
Honors Biology - 96 - A
Physics - 95 - A
Honors Spanish - 97 - A
How can I rebound from this? I think I’m cracking. Math is killing me. I used to be good at it and now I seem to suck. I’ve been working so hard all year and the thought that one test can destroy me like this means I want to die. I had a 96 before this test. And her finals are supposed to be impossible. I’m so stressed.
I think you need to take a big, deep breath! One 75% on a math exam is not the end of the world! Even after doing poorly on your math exam, you still have a 91%, which is an A-!!! If getting less than a stellar grade on an exam truly makes you feel like “you want to die”, then you need to get some professional help from a counselor. That is not a healthy mentality!
You need to focus on learning the material in your class. Do extra homework problems, ask your teacher questions before/after class, get a tutor., set up a study group with friends, etc. Focus on learning the material and the grade will come.
I second @mademoiselle2308’s advice to get a tutor if you feel you are truly losing your footing in math at this point.
Speaking to your teacher and seeking to identify the fundamental area where you need help are the very first things you can do, and in that way perhaps your teacher can point to areas on quizzes or homework assignments where it is clear you have consistently made a left turn.
You must believe that you CAN get back the confidence to proceed without feeling (believing) that a grade in the ‘A’ family is going to ruin your life. You truly do, nod to ^^, need to breathe.
So…go have some ice cream, plan to think about where the lessons were the last time you felt truly masterful of the subject matter, where you have had the greatest questions in coursework and/or on tests returned, and make an appointment with your teacher.
GO TO CLASS, BUY THE BOOK, READ THE CHAPTERS, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
Go to Teacher’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
If you have problems with the homework, go to Teacher’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
Form a study group with other kids in your class.
Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or chemistry whatever. Watch online videos on line about the topic you are studying.
If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skill center at your college.
How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? It is generally expected that for each hour in class, you spend 2-3 outside doing homework. Treat this like a full time job.
If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the guidance counselor and talk to them.
At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The teacher may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the prof wants).
If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the teacher’s office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
Take advantage of any test"re-do" your teacher may or may not have…your teacher wants you to learn the material. Future material depends on it so you need to have the foundation. By explaining what went wrong you really understand it. Take advantage of this.
I don’t know what you want posters to say. But if you want a top college, you need to learn and practice resilience. And gain some perspective. Even as a legacy. You admitted being scared to look at grades last April and June. And yet you have all A’s.
Yes, as mademoiselle said, you need to breathe. Resilience and perspective are also life skills.