I failed my mid term test

[Throwback24]

I honestly feel sick to my stomach, it's all I can think about and I'm trying to keep myself preoccupied to push the thought of my mind at least temp. but it's not working. It's all and I can think about and feelings of disgust are overwhelming my being.

Assignments: 40%
Quizzes: 10%
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 25%

There goes 25% of my final grade and you'd think it'd motivate me to get my act together this time around except I'm really bummed out about it. I'm not accustomed to failing and I don't think I can use it as a stepping stone to do better.

What irks me the most about it is, it was the easiest course in my schedule. Any advice?

[JustinPopovic]

I can TOTALLY relate. I struggled a lot of my grades in university and it was an emotional thing for me. I went from extremely high grades in high school to barely passing classes in college.

I did not deal with it well then so I applaud you for reaching out and asking for advice.

Personal opinion... what you focus on expands. Your mind is locked in to this negative judgement that 25% of your grade is gone.

Question. Did you get 0% on this exam? I'm guessing you failed but you actually got some marks. Perhaps 10/25? Unless you missed the midterm entirely, you do have some points there to count towards your final grade.

But that doesn't matter. You need to figure out a way to change your mental and physical state so you can transform your feeling of being defeated and move it into a feeling of power and control.

The failed exam is in the past. The opportunity to do AWESOME is here and now. You have the opportunity to use the pain of this event to drive you to new levels of achievement. If you are struggling with the material, find some tutors. Find some study partners and accountability parterns. Ask your professor for practice exams that you can complete during your study time. Ask the Teaching Assistants to give you extra assignments.

BECOME the master of the topic. It is entirely possible if you switch the picture in your mind from helplessness to hopefullness. Listen to some motivational programs like Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor, Les Brown or anyone who gets you juiced.

Make it your mission to do everything in your power to NAIL the rest of the semester. You CAN do it!

[CoolBee]

Do you know why you failed?

Did you misunderstand the subject matter? - if this one, then now you know and it gives you time to correct misunderstandings.

Did you get one of those mysterious 'black holes' that appear in one's brain from time to time when confronted with an exam paper? (Happened to me during one of my Further Maths A level papers - sat for 1.5 hours out of a 3 hour exam with a total black hole where my brain used to be - then I just starting doing a few minutes on each question and cycling through - got a reasonable pass in the end). - develop a strategy for dealing with this if it happens again.

Did you simply fail to revise - and if so was this because you had more interesting things to do? because you found the subject a breeze previously and assumed you could just wing it?

Do you have a good revision strategy? Are you a 'binge' reviser or a 'regular revision routine' reviser?

Were you subconsciously trying to prove something to someone - parents, maybe?

[Throwback24]

Originally Posted by JustinPopovic

I can TOTALLY relate. I struggled a lot of my grades in university and it was an emotional thing for me. I went from extremely high grades in high school to barely passing classes in college.

I did not deal with it well then so I applaud you for reaching out and asking for advice.

Personal opinion... what you focus on expands. Your mind is locked in to this negative judgement that 25% of your grade is gone.

Question. Did you get 0% on this exam? I'm guessing you failed but you actually got some marks. Perhaps 10/25? Unless you missed the midterm entirely, you do have some points there to count towards your final grade.

But that doesn't matter. You need to figure out a way to change your mental and physical state so you can transform your feeling of being defeated and move it into a feeling of power and control.

The failed exam is in the past. The opportunity to do AWESOME is here and now. You have the opportunity to use the pain of this event to drive you to new levels of achievement. If you are struggling with the material, find some tutors. Find some study partners and accountability parterns. Ask your professor for practice exams that you can complete during your study time. Ask the Teaching Assistants to give you extra assignments.

BECOME the master of the topic. It is entirely possible if you switch the picture in your mind from helplessness to hopefullness. Listen to some motivational programs like Tony Robbins, Bob Proctor, Les Brown or anyone who gets you juiced.

Make it your mission to do everything in your power to NAIL the rest of the semester. You CAN do it!

It is an emotional roller coaster of sorts, when I'm doing good I'm all smiles and when I falter I fall into a mini-depression. I didn't skip out on the exam, I completed it but having looked at it I'm more than certain I failed.

And there seems to lie the problem, it's not a course I'm in any way shape or form struggling with. I understand the material, I just got a glimpse of the mid term and my mind started to fizzle for some reason. I will admit, I went in pretty confident thinking I knew it all and took a lax approach when studying for that specific course.

I'll talk to my teacher about it and ask for practice exams to do after every unit.

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it.

[Throwback24]

Originally Posted by CoolBee

Do you know why you failed?

Did you misunderstand the subject matter? - if this one, then now you know and it gives you time to correct misunderstandings.

Did you get one of those mysterious 'black holes' that appear in one's brain from time to time when confronted with an exam paper? (Happened to me during one of my Further Maths A level papers - sat for 1.5 hours out of a 3 hour exam with a total black hole where my brain used to be - then I just starting doing a few minutes on each question and cycling through - got a reasonable pass in the end). - develop a strategy for dealing with this if it happens again.

Did you simply fail to revise - and if so was this because you had more interesting things to do? because you found the subject a breeze previously and assumed you could just wing it?

Do you have a good revision strategy? Are you a 'binge' reviser or a 'regular revision routine' reviser?

Were you subconsciously trying to prove something to someone - parents, maybe?

I failed because I didn't care, I think that's what it comes down to. I thought I had a thorough understanding of the material which proved to be the furthest thing from the truth.

That's exactly it, I thought I could wing it (albeit revising a bit) because the course seemed easy.

I'm a crammer, it's something I've had hated about myself for the longest time
and I'm not really sure how to combat it. Most things come easy to me which is primarily why I leave things off till last second.

And no, I wanted a good mark for myself. I feel a strong sense of accomplishment when I do good in school which is why I'm so bummed out.

I just finished my set of final exams and what surprised me the most was, I feel I did relatively good in 3 of the harder classes I'm taking this semester and completely flopped in the 2 easier classes. I feel like banging my head on the wall after this week.

[rei]

i know what you mean about not doing as well in an easier class.
i think it may have something to do with expectations. maybe you could make a conscious decision to release all expectations about the ease or difficulty of all your current classes and spend the same amount of time preparing for each one of them?

i think the expectations can bite us in the nose later sometimes. if it comes easy to us, we can more easily rationalize not spending much time on the material. or if things tend to come easily to you, then you may be like me in that you need to feel challenged or you go from an A to a C pretty easily. maybe you can come up with things related to the material that make it more challenging for you. actually use the bibliography from the syllabus (if there is one) and check out some of the books or articles recommended by the professor. if there's not a bibliography, do your own research into the topic and find a specific focus or approach that is more challenging.

something you said in another post made me wonder whether you officially know you failed or whether you're just concerned that you failed. do you know you got a less than passing grade?

[Throwback24]

I failed and I failed in great fashion, I feel sick to my stomach and thinking about skipping in on school altogether today. I know I won't be able to focus.

Midterm Exam: 5.70 (out of 25.00)
Current Standing: 42

I've never failed this bad in my life... wow I'm going to go clear my mind and attempt to get ready to go.

[CoolBee]

OK, get over the hurt feelings, go for a walk, clear your head.

Pick yourself up and dust yourself down.

Now ask yourself very clearly HOW you managed to only get 5.7 when you thought you understood the material better than you obviously do?

Sometimes those of us who have sailed through academic work at school before need a kick-up the behind in this dreadful manner before we realise that we are now in to something bigger and to make us bring fresh energy to academic work.

Make an appointment with your supervisor/tutor or whoever who can go through the exam paper with you and help you identify your weak areas.

[ohTen]

sophomore year of college, i took a neuroscience class to meet the science requirement of my college's core curriculum. the grade was entirely based on the results of three exams administered over the course of the semester. I am pretty sure that I got a D on the first one, flunked the second one, and got an A on the third one. Ended up with a C- in the class.

It's possible to come out of it alive. You're not going to get an A, but you can still pass.

[SmartAlx]

Well, what grade did you get? Was it a 69 or a 10? It might make you feel better that it probably didn't decrease your grade by 25%. You didn't get a zero after all.

Oh, I see that you got a 5.70 out of 25. Well that is how much your mid term is contributing to your overall score. 5.7% If you make a perfect score on the rest of the portions then you'll make an 80.7. I know that sounds depressing but maybe your teacher will let you do some extra credit.

At least this will encourage you to study for the final. What's most important, that you get a good grade or if you learn the material?

[Daffy Duck]

I highly recommend you buy Cal Newport's book: Cal Newport -- Author: How to Become a Straight-A Student, How to Win at College

It's the BEST material I've seen on the subject of doing well in school. Also check out his blog: Study Hacks

[Throwback24]

I really do not understand, I just recall sitting in the exam room with a dozen ? marks floating in my hard reading through the questions. I took your advice and went through the exam with my TA and she too was surprised I received the mark I did. As she went through each question it all seemed so obvious if you know what I mean. She suggested I read ahead so the week of the exam I won't have nothing more to do than just briskly glance it over.

You guys are right, it has been a positive learning experience I'm just now trying to improve my study habits but I don't know where to start.

Smartalx, my mid term mark was 23% and it accounts for 25% of my final grade. I think I'd be more satisfied with the better mark tbh.

The book isn't available at my local library, I placed a hold on it for when they deliver it. Thanks for the suggestion.