Thread by @sunnydaejones

Its finals week or close to it for a lot of students. Ive been in full blown academic crises multiple times. Everyone was giving me advice based on what I SHOULD’VE done, which didn’t help. SO... Some practical advice for students in academic crisis right now: A THREAD

STOP. Email the professor and tell then you're overwhelmed and ask for an extension. One week past the due date won't hurt anything. And yes, it is DEFINITELY worth taking the point deduction. Ask for an extension. Please.

When you email the professor, be specific about what's going on.
"I know we have to have 8 pages, but I only have 3 quality pages written so far"
"I'm struggling with getting it perfect so its been hard to get started. Do you have any advice?"
Honesty can't hurt you now.

Speaking of honesty. For the love of Jesus, Bhudda, the Prophet Muhammad- all of em. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. You are seriously better off turning in nothing. Like its that big of a deal. Id rather you drop the class than risk academic dishonesty. Please dont do it.

Speaking of dropping: DO NOT panic and drop all your classes. Those classes still count as “credits attempted” for financial aid. They still count towards academic progress. And dropping them might CAUSE more problems that it would solve. Exhaust every possibility first.

Look into getting an “Incomplete” . If you need more than a week or two extension, an "Incomplete" is a placeholder for a grade. You do the work and the "I" is changed to the grade you earned. If you dont, the I turns into a F. Not all professors give them, but its worth asking.

If youre SURE youre gonna fail a class- if its mathmatically IMPOSSIBLE to pass- STOP. Your time is better spent figuring out how to retake it. You can take it over the summer, online, or in the fall. Sometimes the retake grade replaces the F anyway (ask your advisor).

Stop cramming. At this point, you either know it or you don’t. If you’re nervous about a study guide, take it to the professor and say “I just want to make sure I’ve covered everything" (OMG some profs love that they might even give you some answers).

No more coffee or 5 hr energy. No more UberEats. Please. Your brain on no sleep or food is equivalent to working under the influence. So yes, It is worth going to bed now, and setting your alarm for 6 or 7am. If your response is "I cant sleep I wont finish" go to my first tweet.

After the smoke clears, email the professors and thank them for their patience and help. Then, (this is critical). Set up a meeting with your academic success center for AFTER finals. Tell them your situation and that you want to make sure it doesn’t happen again next semester.

"I'll just work all day". No you wont- thats not how time works. You work slower than you think you do. At most, "I'll work all day" doesnt mean 12 or 13 hours. At most, it means 6. AT MOST.
The time you wanted has passed. Do the best with the time you have now.

We're not open about our grades enough. Lissen. Im a former academic advisor and current research associate. I had 3 Fs over the course of my undergrad. 1 in my masters. I start my PhD in August.
You are not your grades. You are more than whatever happens. It will be okay.

And *in my auntie voice* if you find yourself doing this every semester... we gotta have a conversation about anxiety, task avoidance, and possible learning dis/abilites. But not now. Right now, this is to get you OUT of crisis mode and INTO a more manageable situation.

PROFESSORS: Dont comment all the things you wont do for students. Youre a hardass-congrats. This is for academic crisis, which can be/trigger mental crisis. And its minority students who are most effected by your comments, because theyre already least likely to ask for help.

Since this is reaching pretty far: PROFESSORS AND STUDENT AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS:
CITE ME IF/WHEN YOU USE THIS. My name is Jameelah Jones.
You're academic professionals. There's no excuse for using this thread and not crediting me.

@threadreaderapp unroll