What Happens If You Fail a Class in College?

t is a privilege to be able to attend college, but higher education can also provide some of the most stressful experiences of your life. If you’re in a college environment where you’re being challenged academically, then there may come a time when you’ll miss an assignment, get some bad grades, or even fail a class. Sorry, but it’s true.

But what happens if you fail a class, and what should you do next? In this article, expect to read about these topics:

• What Happens If You Fail a Class in College?
• What Do You Do If You’re Failing a Class in College?
• How to Pull Off an Academic Comeback

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What Happens If You Fail a Class in College?

So, you bit off more than you can chew and failed a college class, what happens next? Well, if this is the first class you’ve failed, then don’t worry! There’s still hope for your academic success. Here’s the breakdown of what might happen if you fail that class:

• Your GPA will decrease
• You may be forced to retake the course
• The failed class will appear on your transcript

If you keep failing courses, or your grades drop low enough, you may experience these unfortunate consequences:

• Delayed graduation
• Financial aid issues
• Academic probation

Even just failing one class can, unfortunately, have a significant impact on your college resume. First of all, getting an F in a class will cause your GPA to decrease significantly as would any bad grade. And, if the course is a major/minor requirement or a general education class, then you’ll have to retake the class, which could potentially set you behind in terms of credits and maybe even hold you back from graduating. Perhaps worst of all, the failed class will appear on your academic transcript. You may be required to provide an academic transcript to apply for further education or certain jobs, so this failed class will be visible when you are being considered for admission or employment.

And all of that is just if you fail one course. If you fail a bunch, you might even be unable to keep certain scholarships or maintain your financial aid package. If your GPA drops too low, you may  be put on academic probation, meaning you do not meet the minimum academic standards for your institution. If you are under academic probation, you may be unable to participate in clubs and activities outside of your academic program.

These are some pretty alarming consequences, but don’t panic! Plenty of undergraduates who fail a class still go on to graduate. If you have failed a class or feel like you might fail a class, you can still save your academic career, but you have to act now!

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What Do You Do If You’re Failing a Class in College?

You may be reading this and thinking that it’s too late. You’ve failed that test or forgot to turn in too many assignments, and failure seems inevitable. But to be a winner, you have to have the attitude of a winner. Don’t give up until the very end and there’s always a chance!

Here are some things you can do if you’re failing a class or afraid that you might.

• Find out the stakes - If you’re about to fail a class, you should understand how exactly it will affect you if you do. Look up your school’s failed class policy, and check to find out whether you might have to stay an extra semester. Can you afford to fail this class?
• Meet with your advisor - If you don’t know what to do, then your academic advisor should have a little better idea. Your advisor can help you find out what a failed class will mean for you and what your next course of action should be.
• Meet with your professor - Even though your professor might not be very happy with you for failing their class, there is still a chance they may be able to save your grade. Your professor can potentially give you extra credit or tell you what score you’ll need to get to pass.
• Put together a plan - Once you understand what you need to do and what your stakes are, put together a plan of attack. In order to recover your grade or your GPA, you may need to put the pedal to the metal academically. But just working harder may not cut it, it’s best to be smart about your academic comeback.

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How to Pull Off an Academic Comeback 

So you’ve failed that class or you’re close to failing a class, what's next? Well, if you want to pull off the academic comeback of the century, here’s what to do.

• Get tutoring
• Designate study times
• Prioritize your academics
• Organize study materials
• Ask lots of questions
• Set clear goals

If you’re having trouble with your class materials, you need to make sure you’re understanding the subject matter no matter what. You can’t pass the tests without some semblance of what the topic is. If you tend to have trouble with this, it’s time to get some help. There are tons of ways to help yourself understand the material better, but the best is to ask questions and get help. If you can find a classmate who understands the topic, maybe ask if they can look over an assignment. Most schools offer free tutoring too — sometimes you have to just swallow your pride and schedule an appointment.

You’re also going to need to study like no tomorrow if you want to get your grades up. Well, don’t push yourself too hard, no matter what, but you should start designating daily study time on subjects that you’re struggling with. 

One effective study method is called the Pomodoro technique. This technique involves setting a timer and allowing yourself to study for 25 minutes straight, take a 5-minute break, and then get back to it. Typically every four rounds of this you can give yourself a longer 15-minute break. This may not seem like a revolutionary concept, but from personal experience, I can say that this technique helps a lot — it breaks down a longer period of time into small, manageable chunks.

Studying also means having your study materials in order. Keep all the assignments and tests the professor hands back and use them to prepare for the next one! If you can get a good grasp on how the professor tends to organize their tests, you can give yourself an advantage during the studying process.

Perhaps the most important thing you need to do in order to improve your academics is to prioritize them. Make a list of priorities and abide by that list. Before, your priority list may have looked like this:

1. Family and friends
2. Job and money
3. Sports and clubs
4. Leisure and fun
5. Academics

In order to improve your academics, you’ll have to move school up on your priorities list (to a reasonable extent). Until you can get your grades up, your priority list should look more like this:

1. Family and friends
2. Job and money
3. Academics
4. Sports and clubs
5. Leisure and fun

If you can’t pull off an academic comeback and end up failing that class, here are some tips for you to ensure it doesn’t happen again:

• Be smart about scheduling - Make sure to only choose classes you need and make sure not to take too many difficult ones at once — mix and match easy and difficult courses to balance your workload.
• Consider taking an extra class - If you fail a class, you may not get credit for it, which will put you behind if you’re not already ahead. In order to ensure you still graduate on time, it might be wise to take one extra class on top of your normal load. Only do this if you think you can handle it!
• Know when to drop a class - If you think that you might fail a class again, you can withdraw from the class. If you do this, instead of having an F on your transcript, it will show up as a class you intentionally dropped. This may still raise questions from grad programs, but it looks much better than a failed class.

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Now You Know!

Failing a class in college can suck really bad, but it does not mean that your career is over. If you stay positive and keep going even when things get tough, you can still pull off an academic comeback and secure your future! It’ll take some work, but nothing is impossible if you’re smart and consistent!

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