With finals upon us, a little sincerity and a lot of studying can be the best defenses toward improving a less than stellar grade.

Fortunately for those just realizing their grades are in trouble, finals often carry the highest percentage of a course’s average.

Randall McGuire, an anthropology professor who teaches an intro to anthropology course, gives hope to those of us counting on finals to save our grades.

“As always, showing improvement in the end of a course makes instructors more likely to give you a break in terms of grading,” he said. “But really the main thing now is to buckle down and do your best.”

Michael Starzak of the chemistry department, currently teaching an intro to chemistry principles course, agrees that it’s past the time where students can do anything to improve their grades except through the final. He recommends going through old exams with the same concentration as if it were the actual test.

“Students should try old online exams to learn their weaknesses,” he said, “and then focus on what they have to concentrate on.”

According to most professors, the old cliche holds true — honesty really is the best policy when it comes to resurrecting your grade.

Mary Haupt, an English and journalism professor, said that honesty goes a long way with her.

“After 20 years of teaching,” she said, “I think I’ve gotten pretty good at seeing through the bull some students dish out.”

Phil Edelson, an undergrad Spanish teaching assistant, agreed that students should save their breath if they’re planning on telling elaborate lies to try and boost their grades.

“I am more than willing to work with any of the students in my class as long as they are up front with me,” he said. “As a student myself, I understand that there are certain weeks when students have a lot of work and not a lot of time to do it.”

Edelson said he is willing to make exceptions and work with students who ask for more time on assignments, provided that they do not take advantage of his leniency.

If you’re tempted to make up a sob story, think twice. Professors have said they’re obvious lies and won’t get you anywhere. “The dog ate my homework,” or “My paper was a victim of Binghamton flooding,” probably won’t get you that extension.

“I once had a student ask for an extension because her paper was inside her car when her car caught fire,” Haupt said.

In this case, the student’s story happened to be true, and she got the extension. But don’t let yourself get to the point where you have to ignite personal property to get a few extra days on a paper. There’s a good chance you’ll get an extension if you’re honest about it the first time … but not so much if you ask twice.

For those determined not to fall behind next semester, professors were eager to give tips on how to stay ahead of the game. Remember to attend class when grades begin to slip and to communicate with your professor.

“Regularly attending office hours and getting to know your TA are important for success,” Randall said. “I didn’t see a single soul during my office hours this week.”

He said letting a professor know you’re having a personal problem early on will allow for a better understanding of your situation.

“If someone comes to me in the beginning,” Randall said, “and says ‘I’m going through x … my grandma is sick, or I’ve been having a lot of problems with my boyfriend,’ when the ax falls and they say, ‘I’m sorry, but this happened,’ I’m going to be much more sympathetic if they’ve been communicating with me from the beginning.”

Haupt said that many students need to ask for help when they first realize they’re not doing well.

“Oddly enough, it’s usually the students who are already doing well who come to me for help so they can do even better,” she said. “I wish the ones who are struggling would be that motivated to seek help.”

And make sure that you discuss your conflict in person. Don’t do it by e-mail, phone or after class. Go to office hours and talk to the professor.

“It’s always best to make a case in person,” he said. “It’s more believable. It’s really much easier to say no to an e-mail message than to a suffering person.”