Student Tips for Midterm Grades

Students will be able to view midterm grades via Student Self-Service on the Thursday of the 9th week of the semester.

Instructors of 000- and 100-level courses are encouraged to provide midterm grades to help you evaluate your academic progress halfway through the semester. Midterm grades will be available starting on the Thursday of the ninth week between the hours of 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. Please consider the following tips as you check your midterm grades and evaluate your progress:

  • Be ready for midterms. Review your syllabus and make sure that you are up to date. Attend your classes, complete your assignments, consult with your instructor or TA when necessary, do all of your assigned reading, and review your notes. Midterms do not necessarily imply midterm examinations; rather midterms are a snapshot of where you are at the halfway point of the semester. Don’t assume that you can catch up in the second half of the term if you get behind in the first half. Remember that your midterm grade is not necessarily an accurate predictor of your final grade; the course syllabus may provide information about how final grades are computed. Ask your instructor or TA if they will be providing midterm grades.
  • Evaluate your own progress before midterms. Have you done all of your assignments? How many quizzes and/or tests have you taken? What grades have you received? Have you attended all your classes and lab/discussion sessions? Have you been an active participant in classroom discussions? Have you completed assigned problem sets and/or reading? If your grades for a class are on Blackboard, do you regularly review them?
  • Check your midterm grades as soon as they are available. Midterms should be available between 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. on the Thursday of the ninth week. To review your midterms, go to my.UIC.edu at the “students” tab and click the “mid-term grades” button. (Click here for screenshots.) If you do not see midterm grades posted for a 000- or 100-level class, you can check your class Blackboard site or contact your instructor for information on your progress in the course.
  • Evaluate your progress after midterms. Are you satisfied with your performance in all of your courses? If so, keep up the good work. If not, take responsibility and develop an action plan. Generally speaking, more of the same will not improve your performance in a course. You may need to adjust your level of effort, your study skills, your reading comprehension, and/or your attendance record. You may need to seek outside help in the way of a study group, academic support services, or tutoring. You may need to do all of these things. See the list of academic support services and resources below to help you get started.
  • See your instructor and/or TA. If you are disappointed in your performance in one or more courses, plan on going to office hours. The following tips will help you prepare for seeing your instructor:
  • Take responsibility for your performance in the course. Own up to any classes, assignments, or reading you may have missed. Most instructors are not going to be sympathetic to students who claim not to know why a midterm grade was low when their attendance, assignments, reading, class participation, and/or test grades have been below expectations for the course.
  • Be prepared. Develop a list of questions related to the course or reading materials. Ask specific questions about concepts you don’t understand. Focus on what you think you need to do to better understand the material and check with the instructor to see if you are on the right track. Instructors may be aware of support services available through the department or the college to supplement the information taught in the course. In addition, they may be aware of additional reading materials that students can explore to help them better understand what is being taught.
  • See your advisor. If you are disappointed in your performance in one or more courses, see your academic advisor. An advisor can help you evaluate academic policies and requirements related to the course/s that you are doing poorly in. An advisor can provide information on available academic support services. An advisor can walk you through any choices that might be available to you. Consider the information and resources below to help you prepare for meeting with your advisor.  If you have circumstances that have affected your academic performance, be sure to tell the advisor.
  • Consider late course drops carefully before making a decision. UIC policy allows a total of four late course drops during your undergraduate career. Talk to your advisor about your options, understand the pros and cons of dropping a course and receiving a W on your transcript, and make a timely decision before the deadline passes. During the fall and spring semesters, the late drop deadline is the Friday of the tenth week. See the Academic Calendar online for dates.
  • Understand the consequences of the decisions you make.
  • Determine if the following items are relevant to you. Know how your decision will impact you as a student before you make a decision: impact of a late drop on your status as a full-time student; impact of a late drop versus a failing grade on your financial aid eligibility; impact of a late drop on your visa status; impact of a late drop on your CampusCare coverage; impact of a late drop versus failing grade on your intercollegiate athletics eligibility; impact on time to degree completion, and/or impact of a late drop on your on campus housing status. The information presented on the following page provides a general overview of these issues.
  • Make the necessary effort to bring your grades up if you decide not to late drop a course. Change the behaviors or conditions that may have resulted in a poor midterm grade; utilize recommended academic support services; learn new study strategies; and investigate what you will do if you don’t bring your grade/s up. Will you need to retake the course? Can you take another course instead? What impact will doing poorly in a course have on your financial aid and/or intercollegiate athletics eligibility? What impact will it have on your future enrollment in a particular course or major?
  • Know what having a W on your transcript means if you decide to use a late drop for the course. Develop a plan for how you will improve your performance in the course if you have to take it again; and focus on doing well in the courses that you remain enrolled in.

If you think you might use one of your late drops for a course, please consider the following items before making a final decision:

  • CampusCare: Your CampusCare coverage for the term will not be impacted by one or more late course drops, as long as the following conditions are met:
    • You paid the CampusCare fee at the beginning of the term.
    • You remain enrolled in an undergraduate program that is assessed Range Tuition and Fees, i.e., Range I (12 hours and over), Range II (6 to 11 hours), Range III (1 to 5 hours), etc. (Note: Online programs have a different tuition and fee structure.)
    • You have not been issued a refund of the CampusCare fee for any reason.
    • If you have any questions about whether or not you meet these conditions, please contact:
    • CampusCare Student Health Benefit Program, 820 South Wood Street, Suite W310, (312) 996-4915, cchealth@uic.edu.
  • International Students: You must maintain your Registration Requirements:
    • Always maintain full-time enrollment during the fall and spring semesters. Full time at UIC means 12 credit hours for undergraduate students.
    • Dropping below 12 credit hours before consulting with the Office of International Services will affect your immigration status.
    • Contact OIS regarding any questions you may have about maintaining your status, full-time requirements, travel, and employment on or off campus.
    • Office of International Services, 2160 Student Services Building (SSB), (312) 996-3121, ois@uic.edu.
  • Financial Aid: To maintain your financial aid eligibility, you must make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) toward completion of your degree. SAP requirements for financial aid are separate from degree progress requirements monitored by academic departments. The SAP policy for Financial Aid is available on the Office of Student Financial Aid Web site.
    • Using a late drop after the add/drop period (provided that you do not fully withdraw) does not affect your current term aid or your enrollment hours; however you will receive a grade of W for the course(s) withdrawn. Late dropping/withdrawing hours after the add/drop period (provided you don’t fully withdraw from the University) will not affect your current term aid, but could impact your future eligibility by lowering your SAP Completion Ratio.
    • GPA is also an important factor in determining SAP for financial aid. A minimum GPA of 2.00 is required by the end of the second academic year (for transfer students, the 2.00 requirement applies when the student has at least 60 combined UIC attempted hours and transfer hours or after 2 years at UIC, whichever comes first). You should consider the impact grades of D or F might have on your GPA. Receiving a grade of F and, therefore, no credit for a course would also impact your SAP Completion Ratio.
    • If you have questions about how a late drop or your academic performance may affect your financial aid eligibility, please contact:
    • Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA), 1800 Student Services Building (SSB), (312) 996-3126, money@uic.edu.
  • Intercollegiate Athletics Eligibility: If you are a student athlete and having difficulty with one or more courses at midterm, consult with your Port Center advisor before making any decisions:
    • Athletics Academic Services, B60 Physical Education Building (PEB), 901 West Roosevelt Road, (312) 413-1064.
    • LAS student athletes may also contact: Athletics Advisor, LAS Academic Advising Center, 309 UH, (312) 996-3366
  • Campus Housing: If you were enrolled as a full-time student on the tenth day of the term and you paid tuition as a full-time student, then a subsequent change to part-time status during the term will not impact your campus housing.
    • If you have additional questions about how enrollment changes may impact your Campus Housing, please contact:
    • Campus Housing, 220 Student Residence Hall (SRH), (312) 355-6300, housing@uic.edu.
  • U-PASS: If you pick up your U-PASS, but then drop a course and fall below full-time status, then keep the following in mind:
    • After the add/drop period each semester, we send an updated list of eligible students to the CTA. If you have fallen below full-time status during the add/drop period, your name will not be on this list, and CTA will deactivate your U-PASS. The U-PASS fee assessment will be credited to your account.
    • After the add/drop period each semester, there are no refunds given for tuition and fees, including the U-PASS fee. If you late drop or withdraw from a course and fall below full-time status after the add/drop period, you will still be responsible for the U-PASS fee, and your U-PASS will NOT be deactivated.
    • If you have questions about U-PASS, contact the following office:  Main ID Center, 1790 Student Services Building (SSB), Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., (312) 413-5940, idcenter@uic.edu; Satellite ID Center,241 Student Center West (SCW), Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., (312) 413-5944, idcenter@uic.edu

If you would like to improve your performance in one or more courses, please consider utilizing one or more of the following resources:

  • Academic Center for Excellence: ACE offers the following courses, workshops, programs, and services to students.
    • Academic Skills Program (ASP) courses. ASP courses are designed to help students meet the reading, writing, study, and learning demands at UIC. Courses may be available for the full-term, first-half, and second-half.
    • Save Our Semester Groups—Learn study strategies used by the most successful UIC students.
    • Supplemental Instruction and study groups
    • Academic Achievement Program for Students on Probation
    • Academic Coaching and Math and Science Tutoring
    • More information is available from the Academic Center for Excellence: 2900 Student Services Building (SSB), (312) 413-0031.
  • African American Academic Network: AAAN offers the following programs and services to students:
    • Academic skill development workshops
    • Organized group study programs
    • Group and individual tutoring
    • Peer tutoring
    • Students Pursuing Academic Success
    • More information is available from the African American Academic Network: 2800 Student Services Building (SSB), (312) 996-5040.
  • CHANCE Learning Center: CHANCE Learning Center offers the following programs and services to students:
    • Academic skills workshops and seminars
    • Peer mentoring
    • Tutoring and supplemental instruction via the Mathematical Sciences Learning Center
    • More information is available from the CHANCE Program, 2040 Student Services Building (SSB), (312) 355-5025.
  • College of Applied Health Sciences: AHS offers the following programs and services to students:
    • Tutoring in KN 251/252: available to any student registered in these courses
    • Additional services available to AHS students:
      • Tutoring for students enrolled in nutrition, kinesiology, and basic science courses
      • Career counseling
      • Mentoring
      • Academic support seminars (test-taking strategies, study skills, time management,  and stress reduction)
    • More information on these services is available from the College of Applied Health Sciences, Academic Support and Advising Program, 356 Physical Education Building (PEB), (312) 996-9377, asap.tutoring.center@gmail.com.
  • Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services Program: LARES offers the following programs and services to students:
    • College success workshops
    • Comprehensive peer tutoring program in conjunction with the Confederation of Latin American Students (CLAS)
    • Mathematics and reading and writing courses offered through the Academic Skills Program (ASP)
    • More information on these services is available from the Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services Program: 2640 Student Services Building (SSB), (312) 996-3356 or (312) 996-6073.
  • Learning Resource Centers (Campus Housing): Learning Resource Centers not only provide tutoring services to students but also serve as an information resource center for other academic-related services on campus.
    • More information on the Learning Resource Centers is available from Campus Housing.
  • Math and Science Learning Center: MSLC provides TA and peer tutoring in Mathematics, tutoring in any of the 100-level science courses provided by graduate teaching assistants, Peer-led study groups in the sciences, access to faculty members holding office hours in the SLC.
  • Writing Center: The Writing Center helps all students at any level work on all types of writing—academic, personal, or creative. Individual conferences are scheduled on the hour and students can make up to two appointments per week. Students are advised to call for an appointment in advance, though drop-ins will be accommodated when tutors are available. More information is available from the Writing Center: 105 Grant Hall (GH), (312) 413-2206.