You can even book an appointment with your college’s mental health counselors (often known as the Campus and Psychological Services or CAPS). These are trusted professionals who are trained to help stressed out and upset college students. Do not go on the internet and write your complaints online. These can be seen by other students, college officials, or possibly your professors. There can be many consequences from this. Talk in private to a friend or counselor.

If it is hard for you to meditate for a long time, try using a meditation app, like The Mindfulness App or Headspace. These offer guided meditations to help you keep your focus. Yoga is another great way to keep calm and achieve zen. Many campuses offer yoga classes. Check with your campus gym to see if you can sign up for a class.

You can tense your muscles and slowly release them during your count. Or you can squeeze a stress ball and slowly relax your grip. [3] X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world’s leading hospitals Go to source While visualizing your happy place, try to invoke all of your senses. If you are on the ocean, imagine the wind, the salty taste of the air, and the sand between your toes. This will make visualization more effective. Remember to breathe deeply. Breathe in and out for every count up to ten.

Perhaps you gave it your all. While there may be nothing more frustrating than studying your brains out only to receive a bad grade, you have to remember that you did everything in your power to be successful. Next time, perhaps try changing up your study habits or getting help from a tutoring center. Perhaps you slacked off and didn’t try. What you may have learned is that the days of “winging it” on talent alone are well and truly over. Learn from it, and do better next time through practice and hard work.

Perhaps you only studied things that interested you. If anything was too hard or uninteresting, you might have turned back to the more interesting parts of the homework and ignored the harder or dull parts. Try to power through these parts next time. Perhaps you only read the bare minimum for the class. Try adding extra readings to your homework. If you don’t understand a reading, go to the library, ask a tutor, or search on the internet for an explanation.

Were these excused absences? Did you have a doctor’s note when you were sick? If family member died, did you get a letter from the Dean’s Office? Answering no to any of these questions might be the reason why even justified absences were not excused.

A death in the family Working a part-time or full-time job Raising young children Mental health problems Some colleges may let you negotiate the grade to an Incomplete if you have mitigating life circumstances, or you may be able to retake the class.

Visit them during their office hours, or write them an email to set up an appointment. It is almost always better to discuss this in person. Although it can be hard, you can approach the subject in a calm, sincere way. You can say, “I was really disappointed with my grade on this last assignment. I was wondering what I could have done to do better. In the future, how should I approach an assignment like this?” If you wait until the end of the semester to talk to your professor, it may be too late to change or improve your grade.

If you’re in your first year of college, you may be able to recover easily from a bad semester. [8] X Research source You can calculate what grades you will need from this point on to achieve your ideal GPA. This can give you a sense of what can be done in the future.

If you are forgetful, you can buy a calendar, mark down important dates, and set reminders on your phones. If you have time management problems, you can make a schedule and reward yourself with treats when you finish tasks.

For example, if you want to apply to medical school, you should keep a list of what courses you need to take, what GPA you need when you graduate, and what extracurriculars look good on a medical school application. Your list of practical steps should also include things like “Study for the MCAT” or “Research good medical schools. ”

This plan should include how many hours a week you will study, what grades you want in each of your classes, how you will manage any medical conditions, and how many hours a week you will socialize, work, etc.

Rewrite your notes every night after class. This will help you recall details. It will also help keep your notes legible. Do ten flash cards a day. Memorize these ten before adding another ten the next day. Memorizing in small batches will help you remember. Take notes as you read. After you’re done reading a passage, write down a summary of what you just read. This will help you understand what you read better. When taking notes by hand, use block letters rather than cursive writing. The results are more likely to be legible and it becomes a habit fast. Half of the benefit of note taking is that writing it down tells your brain to put it in long term memory. Test yourself after each passage. Do math exercises that test the principles you just learned. Quiz yourself on historical dates. These recall exercises will prepare you for the real test. [10] X Research source