“I thought this class would be a GPA booster, but I’m barely passing.” In reality, most college classes aren’t GPA boosters. Hard work is required to earn good grades in every class.

If you find your grades are struggling as the semester nears the end, you might feel like you’re doomed or you have no chance of succeeding. Rather than closing the door of your coffin and waiting for the sweet release of the end of the semester (a dark image, I realize), focus on ways you can improve your grades. Your freshman year GPA, after all, follows you after this semester. 

Below are 3 specific ways you can raise your grades and boost your GPA at the end of your first semester of college, so keep reading!

Be proactive.

How much can you really improve your grades at the end of a semester? Should you just accept your fate? Should you wait until next semester to try to change bad study habits? Should you kill yourself just to slightly raise your class grade?

These are all great questions. As you approach the last weeks of the semester, take time to get a good understanding of your grades. How many points do you have left in your classes? What is the highest grade you can get if you get at least C on every remaining item in your course?

Once you have a clear picture of where you stand in each class, take action on several key items:

• Focus on achieving in the future. At this point you might not be able to earn past points. You also might not have a possibility of turning in past assignments late. Don’t focus on the past. Focus on how you can do the best on the remaining assignments.

• Focus on improving in the future. Refuse to offer excuses why you couldn’t or didn’t do well on past assignments. Instead, analyze your past behavior and plan to make changes. What changes do you need to make to improve? What changes can you make now to earn better grades tomorrow?

In college, your teachers are less likely to reach out, to offer extra help, or to extend grace. They will, however, do everything they can to make you a success. Sometimes that means not providing bonus work. Sometimes that also means not allowing you to make up past work. 

You have to be proactive if you want to end this semester with the highest grades still possible. You have to put in the work. It will be grueling at times, but you can do it!

Earn every available point.

Why turn in something late if you’re not going to earn all the points? Why turn in something late if it’s not even worth that much? Is it really worth your time to submit something rather than submitting nothing?

These are also great questions. If you’re asking these questions, you might be a perfectionist in disguise as a procrastinator. Striving for perfection can sometimes prevent you from making progress. Turning in less than your best feels demoralizing sometimes, because you know you’re capable of more. So if you resonate with these feelings, keep reading…

As a college professor, I’m familiar with these kinds of students. As a perfectionist, I’ve felt these urges myself. Use the below two principles to guide you:

• Turning in something late is better than not turning it in at all. It’s true, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Any points (however small) are better than zero points. If you want to improve your GPA and boost your grades, you need every point even if it’s only a few more. So turn in assignments the best you can with the time you have, even if they’re incomplete. 

• Turning in something partially done is better than not turning it in at all. Equally as true, partially done work isn’t ideal but is something. Rather than agonizing to get something perfect and miss out on many points, turn in something that is partially done and earn as many points as possible.

Let me end with an example. I teach communication courses to college students. Inevitably at some point in the semester, a student will approach me and share that they’re not ready to give their speech. Because of how tight the course timeline is, the class doesn’t have time for students to switch spots. To discourage changing speech dates, students who give speeches late get an automatic two-letter grade penalty. (Ouch, I know.)

I plead with my students to go ahead and give their speech on the assigned date, even if they don’t feel fully prepared. Why? They have a higher likelihood of earning more points if they go ahead and give it, even if it’s not fully ready.

Sadly, most students don’t take this option and opt for a hefty grade penalty instead. Sometimes students fail to give their speech at all, because they don’t feel like it’s worth the effort. Please don’t do what these students do. Turn in your work. Some points are always better than no points. Late work is always better than no work.

Have realistic goals.

What can you do to earn an A? What can you do to get 100% on every remaining assignment? Can you end this semester with all A’s or B’s still?

Most of these questions reveal that this student has too high of expectations. While you should stay optimistic, your aim shouldn’t be perfection (or failure). If your grades include mainly C’s and D’s, having the goal of earning mostly A’s is probably unrealistic. 

Aiming to earn 100% on every remaining assignment isn’t realistic for the average college freshman. Aiming to earn 80% or higher on remaining assignments is more realistic. Instead of setting yourself up for failure and disappointment, choose to set your sight on a realistic level of improvement before the semester ends.

In addition to setting realistic goals, determine to work hard. Significantly improving your grades will take lots of hard work. You’ll need to invest lots of elbow grease if you want to see changes. You’ll have to pass up on parties, weekend trips, and even work shifts if you want better grades. 

Raising your GPA is possible, but you need to craft a plan that helps you succeed. Choose to be proactive, earn every remaining point possible, and set realistic goals. With hard work, you can pull your grades up!