First thing you need to remember, like the friendly words written on the front of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is “Don’t Panic”. I think Douglas Adams’ words should apply to not only intergalactic travel, but also to everything you do. I promise that your life will not be over if you fail a class. You can still get into med school or law school or graduate school under the unfortunate circumstance that you receive an “F”. Believe me, I’m living proof. I failed my Political Science class and am now attending the graduate school here at Texas Tech University.
After you have taken a deep breath, you can look at your options, and there are several. First you need to evaluate where you are in the semester. If you know that you are failing a class and it is before the drop date, you may want to go ahead and drop out of the class. If you do this early enough in the semester, you may even be eligible for a partial refund. You can drop a class on Techsis Web for Students if it is before the twelfth day of class. Just choose “Register Drop/Add” from the menu, select the class you want to drop, and use the pull down menu to select “Drop”. It’s quick and painless. However, after the twelfth class day, you will need to go to Office of the Registrar in West Hall Room 103. Don’t be afraid; the staff is very nice and ready to help you. Bring your Tech ID and they will handle the rest. Be aware of the drop dates and Texas Tech’s policy on dropping classes, and you should have no problem with that troublesome class.
If you realize you are failing a class after the drop date but before the semester ends, there is still hope! You could ask your professor if there is any extra credit work that you could turn in. Even if he or she says, “No” you are still not any worse off than you were before. Professors want you to succeed provided you are willing to put in the work. I personally overslept for a test and could not recover from the goose egg I got. I went to speak to my professor, but he would not allow me to make up the exam. However, most professors want to work with you in these circumstances.
Finally if you come down to a situation like I did where you are failing a class after the drop date and there is nothing that you can do but take the “F”, it can be fixed. Texas Tech has a grade replacing policy where you can retake the class and the higher grade will replace the failing one. You will need to fill out a brief form and turn it in to the registrar’s office as well. For more information about the policies or the Office of the Registrar, you can visit their website. http://www.depts.ttu.edu/registrar/
