Should I take the final if I’ll fail (PROF answers)

You are looking at your grades in your college class, and you realize that you don’t have a chance at passing the course.

And the final exam is quickly approaching.

You might be wondering if you should just go ahead and skip the final exam because you are going to fail anyway.

As a former professor, I had students in the exact same situation and I will tell you the same advice that I always gave them.

Now, my answer is not going to be for everyone because each of you will have unique circumstances that I am unaware of, but I will tell you if you should still go and take the final exam even if you are going to fail it.

And in this same article, I am also going to tell you if you should still complete any other coursework that is left if you are just going to fail the class anyway.

Don’t worry, I got you covered. I know it can be a stressful time because failing a class isn’t ideal, but you will get through it and you’ll learn a valuable lesson in the process.

You really need to read this entire article because there are some very important things that could impact you that you don’t even know about as a student.

Should you still take the final exam if you are going to fail it anyway?

Yes, as a former professor I recommend students always take advantage of any opportunity to raise their grade and to show their professors that they really do care about the coursework.

Even if you are going to fail, the final exam can be an excellent learning opportunity for you.

Think about it for a second. If you fail the course, you are going to have to retake the class anyway. And by completing the exam, you are going to be learning in the process.

So, I definitely recommend that students try and finish the semester strong by taking their final exam.

And you never truly know if your professor might raise your grade because of all your hard work. I have seen some professors curve the final exam too and if you miss the exam, you will miss an opportunity to get a passing grade.

Don’t ever underestimate your professor’s ability to change your final grade.

But before you waste all your time studying for the exam, I would reach out to your professor about failing their class. There is no shame in talking to them and simply asking them if you have a chance at passing.

If they indicate to you that they don’t think you should waste your time taking their final exam, I might consider skipping the final if you are going to fail by a lot of points.

However, remember that this is still a chance for you to learn what the final exam is going to cover. And if you take the class with the same professor on your second attempt, you will have the upper hand.

Okay, I have to mention a very important thing. Most colleges will have professors list the last date of attendance for any college student who fails their class. This could impact your financial aid.

It is better to show up the last day, even if you fail so that your last date of attendance is the end of the semester. I cannot stress the importance of this enough.

Before I talk about completing other coursework in a class that you are going to fail, I want to mention some things that you should talk about with your professor before you skip the final exam.

• Can you withdraw? - You might still have an opportunity to withdraw from the class. The college will likely offer late withdrawals for exigent circumstances.

• Can you ask for an incomplete? - If you complete a large majority of the coursework, your professor may offer you an incomplete and this can give you an opportunity to makeup any missed coursework.

• Can you makeup assignments? - If you are failing because you missed a lot of assignments, talk to your professor and ask them if they take late work.

• Can you redo assignments? If you failed a lot of assignments, talk to your professor about opportunities to redo them for a better grade.

• Can you get extra credit? - Not every professor offers extra credit, but it’s worth asking anyway.

My advice is to take the final exam anyway, even if you are going to fail the class or pursue the options I listed above.

Should I still complete my assignments if I am going to fail my college class anyway?

If you are going to fail your college class because you have such a bad grade, you should still work on the remaining assignments in an effort to learn as much as possible.

And your professor might choose to give you additional opportunities to raise your grade.

If you are failing, and you just stop doing the work, you’ll have very little chance of getting help from your professor. They will just think you don’t care.

But if you reach out early and talk to your professor, and you try really hard on the rest of the assignments, they might pass you.

The most important thing here is COMMUNICATION. Talk to your professor about your struggles and be open with them about your goals for their course.

And sometimes students don’t think they have a chance at passing the course because they miscalculated their grade when they could have passed if they would have just finished the work.

When I was a professor, I always reviewed assignments at the end of the semester. I would look for any overall concerns in my grading.

For example, if the majority of students missed a question on an exam, I chose to omit that question and it raised students’ grades.

And some professors even look at the grade distribution of their class each semester and if it isn’t normal for them, they might choose to curve grades at the last minute.

I have even seen some professors make grading errors because of their online grade book settings and they had to change students’ grades.

You don’t know if your professor might do that, and if you stop completing the coursework because you think you are going to fail, you might be wrong and you could pass if you’d just continue submitting assignments.

And most importantly, if you STOP doing the coursework, it will effect your last date of attendance. This date is reported to the college if students fail a class, and it might impact your financial aid.

What happens if I miss the final exam in college?

If a student misses the final exam, they will likely receive a zero on the assignment, and depending on their professor’s grading scale, they might have additional consequences like failing the class or being counted absent.

Some professors make their final exams required. This means that if you miss the final exam, you might end of failing the entire class even if you were passing before.

Another repercussion is your last date of attendance for the class. Most universities in the United States will require professors to report the last date of attendance for students who fail their course.

It is usually related to financial aid so it’s important to finish out the semester.

And if your professor takes attendance, you want to make sure that you skipping the final won’t impact your attendance grade.

There are so many considerations to think about when you are failing and wanting to stop completing the coursework.

It could seem like quitting and putting effort into other courses is the best thing you can do, but I think it is important to look at the bigger picture.

I know I taught you some things that you probably never even considered and now you have the information you need to make a better decision.

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