<p>Stop thinking about your grade, letter or number. You need to go back through that exam and figure out why you weren’t understanding the material. What types of problems did you miss? How was that material presented in class? For example, maybe you were only studying from lecture notes and not from the book. Maybe the professor focused more on applying information to new situations than on remembering the examples given in class. Etc. </p>
<p>If you decide to stay in the class, your goal needs to become mastering the material. It’s not good enough to simply recall what was said in lecture. You need to understand the material to the point that you can see the bigger picture and make connections between disparate ideas. This holds whether you’re in a math class, a history class, or anything in between. </p>
<p>This will at once require a large investment of time and a minimal investment of stress. You will need to spent a large amount of time reviewing the material as you’re learning it, not simply before the test. Reviewing for a test should be just that: review. Your understanding of the material–that is, grasping it deeply enough to explain it to other and to apply in novel contexts–needs to happen on a near-daily basis. Set aside a certain amount of time, say two hours, a day to review your notes or do practice problems, and honor that time. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, you shouldn’t adopt the attitude that doing well in the class will require regular (or any) all-nighters, or that you’ll need to neglect your other classes. Sleep, healthy eating habits, and a light exercise regime–aka personal well-being–always comes first. You can’t be a good student if you’re falling apart at the seams. But once you get those eight hours of sleep, shower, and grab breakfast, you need to put forth a concentrated burst of energy towards really understanding the class materials.</p>