How to Stop Obsessing Over Your Grades 

Everyone dreads report-card day. Parents stand at the ready to lecture you on how to improve; the straight A students sweat over whether or not they made all A’s again; those that want to graduate wonder if they worked hard enough to get that failing grade up. Although those little letters let you and everyone else know that you are digesting the tons of information that you have been bogged down with over the last 15 weeks, they are not good to obsess over.

Do you obsess over your grades? Do you spend endless nights biting your nails and worrying about if you did well enough? Then you may be headed for disaster emotionally, physically. How do you know if you are on this path? Here are a few warning signs to look for:

1. Get a visit from the devil late at night and sells my soul to get good grades. Seriously?
2. Hacks the school’s computers to get past copies of the tests so I can cheat my way to a good grade. (Get help)
3. Crane your neck so hard you get a cramp trying to look at your classmate’s answers on test day.
4. On test day when the teacher walks by and places your test on your desk, you faint.
5. When you get your Algebra test back, and there is a “B” at the top of the page with the words “good job”, you get tears in your eyes because it wasn’t an “A”, go out and drink milkshakes till your stomach hurts, and cries to your friends that you are such a failure.
6. You have a 4.00 GPA, but you do all of the extra credit projects available for every class just in case something happens and your grade drops a point.
7. Your teacher hasn’t returned your tests and you stalk them until they do.
8. You are spending all of your extra income on custom paper writers for college to do your work for you, and it is not just some of your work, you are using them to do all of the work and turning it in as your own instead of learning from the professional outlines they send you.

Although these behaviors bend towards the extreme, you can change this obsession. Everyone wants to be able to pass their classes, and some students do not mind getting a “C” grade to pass, but for you who are grade obsessed, try the following to keep you from the loony-bin:

• Study- If you focus your study time to allow for 2 hours for every hour of class time your grades will soar. Many students cram, or overload themselves to the point of failure. You can actually study so much that by the time you get to the test everything is so jumbled up you freak out. Study with the mindset that you will take breaks, spend some time having fun in your day, and when the scheduled study time is up, stop.
• Know Your Professor- Professors have office hours for a reason, they want to get to know their students and offer them the best learning experience they can. Visit your professor, get to know them and befriend them. Who do you know that will fail their friends? They will work with you harder because you reached out to them. Ask them why they chose this profession? This subject? That one on one feeling with your professors makes for a relaxing class experience.
• Find out if your obsession is a true disorder- If you are medically diagnosed as suffering from OCD (a disorder characterized by obsessions and compulsions), Obsessive Compulsion Disorder, then you may need an adjustment in your medication or get some sound advice from your medical doctor or how to reduce the anxiety you are experiencing due to your grades.
• Study What Interests You- Some of your obsessing can be coming from the fact that you are not studying something that you like. You may be trying to please a parent or friend by taking on this field of study. Solve some of your anxiety by focusing on what it is that you want for your life. When we begin to do what pleases us we become less stressed and obsessed.
• Stop comparing yourself to others- You may be obsessing because you are watching others that are succeeding at the work at hand and you are not making the same grades as them. However, the things that you are good at they may be lacking. Everyone is not good at everything, or we wouldn’t need different degrees. Focus on what you are good at and pat yourself on the back for those things. If you need help, get a tutor that to help with the subject that is hindering you.
• Take a look at your transcript now and then- when you see what you have done you can literally amaze yourself. There are students that never look at all they have done in school until they are asked for a copy of their transcript. When you see it on paper, you may not beat yourself up so much. If you are a person who obsesses over your grades, you are probably a good student already, so go look at what you have done and marvel in your greatness now and then.
• Realize how trivial grades can actually be- Students have reported getting into some of the more prestigious colleges with C grades on their transcript. Graduate schools do not expect you to be perfect with your GPA. Employers have reported not hiring based on straight A’s because new hires come into their companies acting like they know everything. They would rather hire those that remain teachable. If possible stress less over your grades and focus on doing the best you can.

In high-school, you may have been that kid that aced everything. Now that you are in college, it can be intimidating being around all these smart kids that are vying for the best grades just like you are. Remember, you are here to learn your career, your grades will reflect your choices (study time, social time, balanced diet, balanced lifestyle). Your future depends on you being sane in order to get that degree, so give yourself a break and breathe, if you got this far, you are destined to complete!