Hi! do you have any advice for handling midterms and feelings of disappointment? I have two more left now and every time I finish one, I feel like I did a good job but I get sorely disappointed with the grades I receive — especially considering I’m genuinely working hard and studying for 2 weeks for one test, etc. I know university is NOT like high school, so I’m trying to keep that in mind, but floundering in first year does not feel good at all, haha! Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
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hey there,
i honestly really feel you on this. during my first semester of first year, i was really overwhelmed and it took me a good many months to adjust to uni. i’d been warned that grades tend to drop by at least 10 percent in the jump from high school to first year, so rest assured that you’re not the only one struggling with lower grades than you’re used to. it’s a common first year experience.
here’s what advice i can offer to make this easier on you:
first, it will probably be helpful for you to take inventory of what resources you have to support you through this. first year can be particularly difficult because you’re not used to navigating university yet, and don’t know about all the different ways you can receive help.
i’ll divide the resource recommendations in this post into two sections. first, let’s start with resources that will help you handle your midterms better:
while i’ve never visited a learning strategist myself, i’ve heard that they’re really great for helping you reach your academic goals. a learning strategist will be able to give you tips on managing your time and stress, evaluate your study plans with you, and just generally talk you through better ways to learn and thus improve your grade. if you’re in arts and science, you should be able to call your college registrar and request an appointment with the learning strategist. otherwise, i think CLNx also allows you to make appointments.
i do think this is one of your best bets for learning how to handle midterms well, and whatever skills you learn from your learning strategist will carry over to finals as well.
2) writing centres
if any of your midterms are midterm papers, the writing centre will be a godsend. my college’s writing centre has helped me improve my grades on many, many papers. a highly recommended resource. if you’re unfamiliar with the writing centre, this past weekend i did an advice post for first-timers, which you can check out here.
3) librarians
if any of your midterms include a research element, you can actually live chat with librarians for research help here. also, i think u of t still does the personal librarian system, which should mean that you’ve gotten an email from a campus librarian who’s offered to help you with research and show you different tools to make your life easier. my personal librarian is my college librarian.
you’d really be surprised how much wisdom librarians have— they can be super helpful for finding books and papers you might not have come across otherwise, and can also give you tips on how to parse a whole ton of information.
4) office hours
if you’re studying really hard and still don’t find that you’re getting the grades you hope for, that’s usually a signal that you should reach out to your profs or TAs for an office hours appointment. clarify their expectations, ask them how they’d recommend that you prep for a midterm, and see if you can sus out what they care most about. what topics do they see as most important? should you memorize things or know how to apply them? only your course instructors will be able to tell you. they’re being paid to teach you, so you might as well ask.
now, for resources that will help you handle the disappointment (no matter how hard you try, it will still hit you sometimes. that’s what i’m learning as an upper year).
1) dons, mentors, and other upper years
upper years have been through it. most of them know how you’re feeling, but have also had more practice putting their failures into perspective and moving on. if you have access to residence/commuter dons, a mentorship program, or any upper years in general, i wouldn’t be afraid to start a conversation with them about dealing with disappointing grades! as an upper year myself, i’m always happy to talk younger students through the emotional struggle of first year. i guess that’s why i run this blog lol.
2) friends
honestly, my current favourite way to get over a bad midterm grade is to play an hour of among us with my friends. there’s nothin like a little friendly space murder to make yourself feel better.
but hey, even before the pandemic, i found that it helped so much to take some time off my studies with people that i like, so that i could come back to studying refreshed and ready to work.
don’t know anyone, since you’re still in first year? check out your prospective program’s student associations, your college, mentorship programs, and clubs. there will be friendly people going through the same thing as you— don’t be afraid to approach them. some random girl from my class added me on facebook, and now we rant to each other weekly about how frustrating our assignments are. ten times better than slogging through alone.
3) embedded counsellors and MySSP
if your disappointments begin to make you feel anxious or depressed, please reach out to one of the mental health supports on campus. you have five free appointments with your college’s embedded counsellor, who will talk you through your negative feelings and help you identify how your patterns of thought might be holding you back. you can call health and wellness to make an appointment with your embedded counsellor. if that doesn’t sound like an option for you, you can also chat with the counsellors at MySSP in different languages, 24/7, even outside of North America. your mental health is very important!
in case it’s not obvious yet, i really think that reaching out to other people in the university community is the best way to pull yourself through what you’re dealing with.
other than that, i think there’s value in maintaining a sense of perspective. first year is an adjustment. there is no shame in not doing as well as you hoped to, and things will get better once you figure out what the heck is going on in university. i really had to overhaul my study habits in order to get on my feet. you’ll learn. it’s why you’re here.
sending you tons of encouragement for the rest of the semester— i’m proud of you for working so hard. keep it up, you can do this!
be Boundless,
aska
