Poor first semester in college? Here are 4 steps to recovery.
Coming home for winter break after your first semester from college can be a time of relaxation and holiday reveling. Or it can be time to face another kind of music. Did your first semester wind up more challenging than you anticipated? Were your grades disappointing? We’ve got you. Here are four steps to take now to help prepare for a more successful spring semester.
1. Got Accommodations? Many students who had an IEP or 504 plan throughout high school decide to forgo accommodations in college. If this was your decision, it’s important to know that it’s not too late. Accommodations look very different in college than they did in high school. First, they are invisible – there are no special ed teachers, aides or classes to single you out from your peers. Instead, college accommodations consist of helpful supports like extra time for exams, or copies of notes so that you don’t have to divide your attention in class between listening to the lecture and writing things down. Accommodations can even be used for early access to course registration, assuring you space in classes that work for you. And finally, even if you didn’t have an IEP or 504 in high school, if you have a diagnosis such as ADHD and a recent psychoeducational evaluation (typically within the past 3 years), you can still qualify for accommodations in college. In order to do so, you need to connect with your school’s Disability Support office. It can be called various things – disability support services, academic success, etc. – and should be easy to find on your school’s website. Make an appointment for when you are back on campus and bring your psychoeducational evaluation with you. Your assigned counselor will determine whether you qualify for support and which accommodations are appropriate. It will then be up to you to communicate this to your professors, usually with a letter from the Disability Support office.
2. Have you used other campus supports? If you don’t qualify for accommodations (or even if you do!) there are a number of other ways to get help on your college campus. Most colleges offer tutoring services, usually peer-to-peer, and some have special tutoring labs for math or writing. Find out where they are and what the hours are. And while you’re at it, be sure to check out office hours for all of your professors next semester. Going directly to the professor with questions can help you stand out (in a good way) and can make a difference when it comes time for grades. College professors have more leeway than high school teachers when a student is on the cusp of two grades. Knowing that the student is engaged and cares enough to follow up after class can translate to giving them the benefit of a higher grade.
3. Consider an executive function coach. If the support on campus isn’t enough, or if you’re intimidated or unsure about how to access it, executive function coaches can meet with you virtually and help you in a variety of ways. Whether it’s chunking out assignments and keeping you on schedule, or helping you to navigate services on campus, an executive function coach can be useful at the college levels in ways that are very different from high school.
4. Make use of winter break to evaluate the past semester. Now is the time to review the actions or inactions that resulted in semester grades being less than expected and make plans for the spring semester. Unsure how to begin? Check out our new winter break course, “Re-launch to College” which will focus on evaluating expectations, improving self-awareness, and learning strategies for problem-solving.