My School Grades are Plummeting - but why?!

[megakiller32]

Recently, i have had exam week. I did alright, but not as well as i thought.

 

I usually get A* and A's, but this exam i've been getting B's. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but for me it is, because im extra-competetive. I did decent revision, however i have no idea how i went wrong. For example- Im great at French, im doing my GCSE a year early, however i only got 79% (Which is a B+)

 

Although that seems ok, for me, im humiliated. I cant understand why i'm not doing so great, and i was wondering if anyone could help me :-k

[Rebdragon]

What the hell is with this forum and fulfilling the stereotype of the introverted nerd who cries whenever he gets a B and spends the rest of time boasting about his 6.0 GPA? Maybe not so much in the OT as in General, but whenever there's any kind of discussion about grades, it's hard finding someone on the thread who doesn't fulfill the stereotype, in it's entirety.

 

 

 

It's annoying. Really annoying.

 

 

 

You, sir, need to get an F on something. It'd do you some frikkin' good.

[Nom]

You need to accept that you can't win 'em all. I have long since stopped letting a bad grade or two bother me. It reminds me that I'm human.

 

 

 

EDIT: And dropping a letter grade isn't "plummeting." Like Reb said, you need to get an F or two. As a matter of fact, accept the fact that you inevitably will. There comes a point where you start to develop towards your interests and you will excel in those areas. You can't expect to continue the grade school trend of getting 100% on every paper in every subject.

[RpgGamer]

You're a perfectionist. get over it.

 

okay that was a bit blunt, sorry. But seriously don't let a couple of not so amazing grades get you down. As for reasons why your grades are declining? well, im not you, so i can't answer that. But I can relate. I used to be a straight A honor student and such, but once I got a life (lol) my grades slipped a bit. Then when my girlfriend dumped me I practically failed every class that marking period. There are all sorts of distractions, figure out what yours is, and cure it.

 

 

 

After a while I kind of grew accustomed to not getting an A on every test. My advice to you is study a bit harder, learn to concentrate longer, and don't let a few less than stellar grades get to you. Keep your chin up :)

[Lionheart_0]

I agree what was said above, and I would also like to add something else.

 

 

 

If you take the grades of one generation in a country and graph them, you will get an average graph that goes down then comes up around middle school in grade 7/8 and then starts to decline again in highschool. The reasons? 100's of possibilities that I really don't want to list, but you get the idea.

 

 

 

Perhaps it's about the time your grades start declining for some reason. I had the exact same thing in grade 10, and I'm way over the shock now.

 

 

 

To get a 65 in math now (compared to the 89 i was getting in grade 7/8) is pretty much godly to me.

[Ginger_Warrior]

I don't go so far as to think you need an F. :|

 

 

 

However, you need to come to the realisation you won't get an A in every single subject. I was expected to get As and A*s in almost everything. At the end of it, I walked away with only 3 A*s.

 

 

 

Likewise, I'm at FE college, and I was expected to get four As at A2 Level. Since then, I've dropped one subject completely, and I'm probably gonna get two As and a B.

 

 

 

So long as I've tried my best, and I get into a good course at uni, I don't really care though. At the end of the day, if I'm going into a well-paid job, the chances are the last thing they'll look at and judge me on is my GCSE grades. Don't fall for this message that GCSEs define you as a person; your personality amongst other things does that.

 

 

 

If you're aiming for complete perfection, you'll burn out half way through college. Trust me. I've seen people do it.

 

 

 

As for what's making your grades drop (not "plummet")? Could be many things. Personal issues? Illness? Are you tired? You're growing up; is it so wrong to think about other things than your school work? All of which can be dealt with fairly easily.

 

 

 

Just put in the best effort you can. There's really no need to worry yourself silly over it. When you start getting Cs and Ds, fine, there's a slight cause for concern. But dropping one grade? Don't you think you're being just a little bit irrational?

[rushrock]

Megakiller, it's not the end of the world, but still, strive for excellence. If you find B's unacceptable, then good for you. It's a good habit. Ask your teachers what went wrong, and don't stress over it.

[Quoi_Tu]

I don't see the big deal. If you feel like you know the material really well, then a grade on a test doesn't really mean a lot.

[misterxman]

My advice would be to ask your teachers to find out why your grades are declining, they're the ones who see what you're doing right and wrong. They may not see your study habbits, but they can easily tell you what you keep missing in assignments/exams.

[rushrock]

@Quoi_Tu: Colleges see the big deal. :/

[megakiller32]

Well, i forgot to put i am a complete perfectionist, however-

 

I didnt mean one or two Bs i did mean most things going down. Maybe i am getting over-exagguartive, however i like getting my A's :uhh:

[rushrock]

^ And you should like getting your A's. Don't set your goals any lower!

[Quoi_Tu]

Oh, I'm not familiar with GCSEs, but if they are anything like the SAT or similar placement exams, then they don't really test your knowledge as much as they test your test-taking ability. Or maybe I'm wrong, in which case, sorry.

[rushrock]

^ Yeah, that might be right, but colleges will still look at them and will partly base their decision of accepting you on his grades. Including the GCSE's, unless I'm wrong. :P

[Lionheart_0]

^ Yeah, that might be right, but colleges will still look at them and will partly base their decision of accepting you on his grades. Including the GCSE's, unless I'm wrong. :P

 

 

 

Here in Canada our colleges/uni's accept us based only on marks and extra school activities (such as sports or clubs/councils). So If one get a 90% average in high school average here, thats still not good enough as I'm fairly certain that the going average for uni's right now is 97% for med school.

[rushrock]

^ Ouch! That's brutal. Sorry. :(

 

 

 

Here in America, they look at both grades and test scores. So, yeah. Good grades are for the win! :)

[StrOwez]

ahh GCSE's...

 

 

 

Just do a shed load of past papers and you should get all A*s in your exam units, that's basically all you need for exams.. I'd go as far as to say past papers ftw. :thumbsup:

[Potter_Pkr]

Would it be okay if you said what year you are in at secondary school? (Guessing Year 10 or 11, plus if your taking French a year early then possibly Year 10) You shouldnt be worrying about the fact that you got a B in your test. Chances are they were your mock exams and so you have less knowledge and practice than when you take most of your GCSEs in the summer.

 

 

 

Even though I'm targetting A* in my GCSE subjects, I wont mind if I get B and C grades during my mocks over the next 2 weeks purely because I wont have had as much practice as for the real thing next May/June.

[jemathonical]

I'd be happy with B's.

[Rebdragon]

I don't go so far as to think you need an F. :|

 

Better now than later. Whether ya like it or not, everyone fails a major assignment eventually. Ya ain't perfect, and trying to pretend like ya are is just going to mess with your life.

[Kill_Thomas9]

79% is a B+ for you? What grading scale do you use? That's a C+ for me...

[Catnip1337]

Just take some shrooms before the test. You will do a lot better.

[angryjoe]

I only know 3 or 4 people like you that feel the need to get full marks and top grades with everything. A couple even cried when getting B's and one guy that paid ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã13 to do a resit exam when he had gotten a high B in the original paper.

 

 

 

The sad thing about these people is that when they get out into the real world, they will be f*cked, royaly. They haven't a clue about life. No life experiences. They are from 'perfect' families, which is lucky for them, but if getting a low, or lower than average grade is enough to upset them then they are going to get a real kick in the teeth later in life.

[BlueLancer]

 

The sad thing about these people is that when they get out into the real world, they will be f..., royaly. They haven't a clue about life. No life experiences. They are from 'perfect' families, which is lucky for them, but if getting a low, or lower than average grade is enough to upset them then they are going to get a real kick in the teeth later in life.

 

 

 

Sadly, I was thinking the same thing.

 

 

 

It might seem a big deal to you if you're a perfectionist in college, but people in "real life" mostly couldn't care less if you had some B's or even C's (hell, I had 2 F's but I can get employed in a white collar job)

 

 

 

You might strongly disagree with me on the next statement because it might sound grossly unfair to an idealistic college student, but thought you'd want to know the ugly truth about "the real world" anyways:

 

 

 

Good connections matter more than grades. When you grow up you'll see the most idiotic donut-munching jerks with no clue on how to run a hot dog stall (let alone a company) get the best positions and salaries, and you'll eventually find out they were somebody's friend or cousin or friend's cousin, while you work for under 10x his salary 10x as hard.

[Bubsa]

This isn't a "OMG BE GRATEFUL YOU HAVE BRAINZ" post. Let's make that clear.

 

 

 

The grade will do you good. Think of it this way: Getting so many top marks might have made you take them for granted. Now, with this, it'll help you piece together what went different for your B than it did for your A. Now, you know what works and what doesn't.