Originally Posted by himespau

Man, I hate being the one to have to crush people's dreams. I don't know whether every generation gets told that if they dream it hard enough, it'll come true no matter their abilities, but I've had to be the one to break it to so many students this semester that they're not going to be able to get into dental, veterinary, medical, nursing, etc. school because their scores just don't make the cut. I get why people just pass them on to the next class/level and say, "maybe if you do better/work harder in your next class..." I mean it's so much easier. Then they come to me and it's my fault because they're getting a C/D/F in my class (or I just lay out the reality for them that they should look into back up plans even if they're doing OK in my class or not in my class at all but want my help because they need money and are hard workers and "deserve" a chance - all of which I have no control over; I'm a low seniority assistant prof with no voice in any decisions) that they're not going to get into where they want to go, not their performance in all their other classes that led to a 2.5 GPA and a 40th percentile on the standardize test of their choice.
"Maybe if I apply again and you boost me up from a D+ to a C I'll get in next time".
'Sorry, but no, you won't and the semester has been over for two weeks, so I can't change your grade now even if I felt you deserved an extra 7% added to your final grade.'
"Yeah well you're an ******* and it's your fault my grade doesn't represent how hard I worked in your class and you're wrong anyways because all my other professors and high school teachers and my parents think I can be an _______. Why are you stopping me from doing what I NEED to do? There isn't any other option, there's nothing else I can be. I HAVE to be a __________."