The fall semester ends on December 13. With this comes a stressful and fast-paced time for most students and teachers. Grades will be finalized, students need to finish their work, and overall, everyone is overwhelmed.

Students deal with this time in different ways. Some give up, and some persist to get the grades they aimed for. Some procrastinate by leaving all late work till the last minute, and some feel accomplished as teachers give less work to have time to grade remaining assignments.

Along the way, there are ways to improve the techniques that are used to get grades up at the last minute. Most teachers set deadlines for all late work and will then refuse to take any work that has been turned in after this date. So planning ahead will be the best option.

When there are only a couple of days left, having assignments for all classes seems overwhelming. Not knowing what to begin with can be challenging. Dealing with this has happened to everyone, but don’t think that it isn’t achievable because it is — it just takes organizing and planning ahead.

If you have been absent, check in with teachers as soon as you return. The sooner you get back to class and get the missing work, the sooner you will see improvements in your grades. Once you get that work, make sure you don’t forget about it. The best way to avoid procrastination is to begin the work as soon as possible. The sooner everything gets done, the faster grades go up, and the lower your stress level is.

Being able to space out what is left to catch up on will make it seem less hectic. Give yourself a day to catch up on each subject. So, with the seven-period schedule, each day corresponds to one class. Writing down all of the assignments that need to get done is helpful so you can see visually what is required.

According to Wikihow, there are several steps to follow to get grades up fast. The first step is to check grades regularly to ensure that you are aware of your current grades and what is missing. If there is a missing assignment, try and make it up in the next week; otherwise, the workload will increase and it will feel overwhelming.

The second step to success is spending extra time on homework and making sure it isn’t rushed. Then, don’t turn it in late. Late points lower grades. They’re better than a zero, but turning it in on time will always improve grades.

The third step is if you failed an assignment or test, ask about possibly retaking or redoing it. Often teachers offer test corrections or retakes and redos for homework assignments to fix the mistakes. This isn’t guaranteed, but if it is an option, take advantage of the opportunity.

The last step is to prioritize. If you have a lot of homework on a weekend, don’t waste it doing things that take away from time to catch up or get ahead on work. Stay on task and make sure there is enough time to do work before doing anything else.

Overall, time management is key to keeping up with your work. Look over grades regularly and take advantage of test corrections and makeup work to bring up grades to the highest possible percentage.