Q&A for How to Get Over a Bad Grade

Reach out to someone. Bad grades are never easy to receive, but they don't define you as a person. Consider, perhaps, how many people have visited this article; you're not alone in the frustration. Those feelings will pass if you let them. Challenges (and failures) are part of progress, and you can get through it.

Focus on the things that you have achieved. You are not a loser, you have your own skills and talents and things that make you unique. This is just a setback. Keep working, don't give up, and try to do better next time.

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and everybody does poorly at things sometimes. You shouldn't worry or feel down if all of your friends got A's and you didn't; you're not in competition with them. Let the experience motivate you to worker harder toward getting a good grade the next time.

Prove them wrong. Use your disappointment as inspiration to ace the next exam. Show them how capable you are.

Some parents react in this way out of worry for your future or out of fear of how it rebounds on them. Try to be calm, understand what they are talking about, and answer them carefully. Explain how you will work towards making an improvement and ask for help as needed.

Speak with a trusted adult such as a teacher or clergy who can assist you in removing yourself from this situation. If it becomes very abusive, call Child Protective Services yourself, because no one deserves to live in fear like that.

Learn from the mistakes you made when you got the bad grade so you won't make the same ones on your next test.

It doesn't matter what your friend got. Just work toward improving your own results.

You're not a failure, regardless of whether or not you get failing grades. Don't own a self-defeating identity like that. Decide you're going to do the best you can to change your failing grades, always remembering that grades don't define who you are or your value. Your parents may be disappointed in your performance at school, but they still love you.

It has happened and it's not the end of the world, don't stress too much. Figure out where you made mistakes but most importantly, just don't stress too much. Plan how you will fix the mistakes and do well for all remaining future tests -- don't let this bump spoil the rest of the journey.

Know that they're just scared for your future because that's what parents do best: fear for their children's lives. Let them know that it's just one test and that things will get better. Follow the steps in Part 3 of this article for tips on how to study smarter and not necessarily harder. Also, try to forgive yourself. Everyone makes mistakes.

Talk to your teacher, a classmate, or someone else who can help you learn the subject matter better. One C won't hurt you too much. Study harder next time and try your best. Sometimes your best will be a C, and that's okay.

Study more. Everyone gets bad grades. If you are falling behind, ask a teacher to help you out.

If you knew how to answer a question but made a mistake, you can try talking to your teacher. It's possible they will give you another chance, but the best thing you can do is go slowly and try your best on the next test.

Tell yourself it's just fine, and that there's no reason to get upset over that grade. If you're a perfectionistic, it can be hard to accept anything less than 100%, but it's important to learn to be able to, since no one always succeeds 100% at everything in life.

If you get a bad report card early on in the year, you should study more to turn your grade around. If you fail on your last report card, you might consider going to summer school so you don't have to repeat the class. Either way, a tutor might help you improve in the subjects you're struggling with.

Even if you know you will fail the test you should still study and do your best on it.

Remind the teacher that it is the teacher's responsibility to help you out, even if you are behind and ought to know something. Most teacher won't do this because they want you to learn. Just go to them during free time or recess and talk to them and they might explain. If this still doesn't work, speak to another teacher or the principal, to complain that you aren't getting the help you've asked for.

No one should ever touch or hurt you no matter what grade you get. Tell them you intend to use your low test score as inspiration to do better next time, and actually do better. If someone is hurting you at home, tell another trusted adult like a teacher or school counselor.

Tell them. It's better for them to know earlier rather than later. If you don't tell them, they might punish you, or the punishment may be worse. All you have to do is say, "Mom, dad, remember when I told you I scored poorly on those two tests? There was another bad grade I didn't tell you about." Don't make excuses, but let them know why you failed, and tell them you'll do better in the future.

Remember this happens to everyone, everyone gets bad grades one day. Show your parents your mistakes and tell them this will not happen again.

Just prove to your parents that since all your other grades are good that you can bring it up. Remember be positive, you can always do better if you try hard and believe in yourself.

Tell your parents what your teacher thinks, and vice versa. If you can, have them talk with the teacher. Some teachers grade more harshly than others, and it may not be your fault.

It varies, but probably just a couple of days. Make sure you work harder next time, though, because if you get another bad grade they'll get upset all over again.

Try showing them that your average mark is still high, and that you weren't prepared and stressed about the test, therefore not performing your best. Some teachers will allow students to retake tests, so you can try that as well.

I had the same problem. Just remind yourself of what's important in the moment - the test. No matter what happens, your parents will still love you. Instead of worrying, think positively. Think about how happy your parents will be when you get a good grade. Then focus your attention and get down to work.

Work harder next time and strive to do better. You may even be able to get away with keeping your C- a secret, but if you do, you shouldn't use that as an excuse to get lazy about your grades.

Try to figure out what has gone wrong and fix it. Have you not been taking enough time to study before tests? Study more going forward. Have you missed assignments? Make them up, or promise yourself you won't miss anything in the future. Do you not understand the material? Meet with your teacher. When you talk to your parents about your grades, tell them exactly what happened and how you plan to change things so it won't happen again.

Comparing marks can be a good thing if it makes you work harder in order to keep up with your peers, but you shouldn't let others' superior marks make you feel bad, and you shouldn't try to make others feel bad about their marks. For most people, yes, marks can have a lot to do with how successful you will be in the future. If you don't get good grades, this might affect your ability to get into a good college, which will affect your ability to get a good job, which will affect how much money you make.

First, don't lose hope. Sometimes bad things happen and you can probably not do anything to change it. What you can really do is not repeat the same mistake. Do not get embarrassed. Take this as your stepping stone to success and believe in yourself.