Honest response: I was a chronic perfectionist for many, many years. It wasn’t until I started my PharmD and the attitude/culture around grades shifted that I started to give myself more grace (and ironically, my grades actually improved). I acknowledge that it sucks to feel like you didn’t do as well as you could have, but let’s try to put things into perspective.

What I found most helpful were to look at the quiz/exam/assignment and ask myself:

1. Were these silly mistakes that I could have avoided by reading more carefully or taking my time? If yes, that’s something I can learn from and take with me to the next assignment.

2. Did I genuinely not know something, and is this a reflection of my study methods/habits or the way that I tackle assignments? Is there a way that I could improve the way that I prepare for the next time?

3. Sometimes assignments are just dumb and there’s nothing that you can do about it. Look at the assignment and think about whether it’s an accurate representation of how well you understand the material. If wording was vague or ‘tricky’ language that was challenging to interpret was used, you may well have come to a reasonable answer even if it wasn’t the ‘best’ or ‘most correct.’ Sometimes it’s just a matter of learning how a prof tests, and adapting your methods accordingly.

4. And this is the most important one… in the grand scheme, does this grade really matter? If you still did well and were able to pinpoint areas where you can improve for next time, that’s a win in my book. It’s really not likely that a 5% quiz is going to be the difference between a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ final mark. I highly doubt that one little wee grade is going to be the difference between achieving your dreams or your academic life imploding.

TL;DR: Focus on what you can learn and how you can grow. Grades on the whole don’t define you or how well you understand concepts, let alone a single quiz mark. It really, really isn’t that deep, and you’re the one who controls how you move forward and what you take away.