I failed 8 classes, so I’m going to share 8 ways I bounced back from them.
Ever since I started sharing my law school journey online (the 8 failed classes part especially), I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how I improved my grades to 3 HD’s in my last semester.
I get the curiosity. Maybe you’re wondering how to bounce back from your failed classes. Maybe you didn’t fail, you just got a low grade you’re disappointed with and want to improve it next semester. Or maybe you just want to improve your grades in general.
To match the theme of this blog post, I’m going to share with you 8 things that helped me bounce back from my 8 failed classes.
Let’s dive in.
1 – Getting organised at the start of the semester
I remember at the start of law school, I was kind of a “go with the flow” type of person. I would deal with assessments the moment I found out about them.
However, the huge game-changer that contributed to my improved grades is actually knowing all the assessment due dates at the start of the semester, which brings me to my 2nd point.
2 – Knowing the assessment due dates from the start of the semester
For example, when you do your list of assessments for that semester, you may notice that there is a time period where you have 2-3 assessments due. Then, you’ll probably think that it may not be a good idea to plan anything during that time because it’s your busiest week.
It’s all about planning ahead especially because you have a life outside of law school.
That’s why Points 1 & 2 are so helpful for your pre-semester preparation and getting some overview of what that semester will look like. It also relieves some stress in the process.
3 – Asking silly questions
Being afraid to ask “silly” questions cost me my grades.
How do I know that? Well, the moment I became the person who asked questions, the moment I didn’t understand something, my grades improved.
Teachers are there for a reason, and they are there to answer your questions.
RELATED: 5 Tips for Starting Law School
4 – Attend to what you don’t understand immediately
Similar to that is attending to concepts you don’t understand immediately instead of waiting until before the exam to address them.
Let’s say you come across things you don’t understand in Week 2, Week 4, Week 6, Week 7, and everything else. You’ve already accumulated a whole bunch of things that you don’t understand. By the time it comes to exam preparation, it can feel more overwhelming.
When you do them as you go, it saves you time and stress later on when you start preparing for the exam.
5 – Focus on your strengths
This is where you keep doing and focus more on the things you are good at.
Say, for example, you are really good at taking notes for your lectures, do more of that. Take advantage of that strength.
Another example is that you do better with the readings than the lectures, take advantage of that strength.
This is not to say that you ignore the rest, but when you need to catch up on missed work or you need a fallback, you can rely on those strengths.
RELATED: 5 Law School Writing Tips (for exams and assessments)
6 – Planning your assessments ahead of time
As you know from Points 1 & 2, it’s important to organise everything at the start of the semester.
However, when it comes to assessments, you also want to plan what you need to do ahead of time. And yes, this means you can’t do them last minute.
You can plan them ahead of time by creating a list of tasks for each assessment, and when you need to do them. This is so you can stay on track with them promptly and you know you’re going to get everything required done.
7 – Creating exam notes as you go
The timeframe between your last class and your first exam isn’t that much. Also, during the last few weeks of the semester, you have other assessments.
When you do your exam notes as you go (at the end of every week), you’ll have them ready to go by the time you start exam preparation, and it’s one less thing to worry about.
RELATED: My 3 Regrets from Law School
8 – Focus on your mental and physical health
While this is not academically related, it is important.
When I focused on prioritising this, it did not affect my ability to improve my grades. In fact, neglecting my physical and mental health led to burnout, which affected my grades anyway.
To Wrap Up
These are the 8 things that helped me bounce back from 8 failed classes:
- Get organised at the start of the semester
- Have an overview of your assessment due dates
- Ask silly questions
- Address what you don’t understand immediately
- Focus on your strengths
- Plan assessments ahead of time
- Create exam notes as you go
- Focus on your physical and mental health
Even just implementing one of these (if you haven’t already) can make a difference to your grades. Getting organised makes a difference. Doing everything as you go makes a difference. Addressing what you don’t understand right away makes a difference.
You just need to make one change.
-Lauren 🙂
P.S I suggest reading these blog posts next:
- My Journey in Becoming a Lawyer at 23
- How I Went From Failing 8 Classes to Getting 3 HD’s
- How I Overcame Failure in Law School
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi, this is Lauren! I’m a lawyer from Melbourne, Australia.
I failed 8 classes when I was in law school, got 3 High Distinctions in my last semester, and now I’m a lawyer. I know how overwhelming law school can feel.
That’s why I have created this little space for aspiring lawyers on my blog!
About laurenbarri.com: I create content on all things personal development, productivity, self-care, and habits! There is also a law to lawyer hub specifically for those who want to be lawyers and thrive in law school.
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