# I didn't make the grade **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 18, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636 "2010-12-18T18:17:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/41 "2010-12-19T20:47:09Z")
**not alice** , your posts are not unlike someone asking Mrs. Lincoln, other than the shooting, did she enjoy the play? ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/42 "2010-12-19T20:52:14Z")
šŸ™‚ other than that, how have you enjoyed the thread? Do you recommend I use more snark and insults and vulgarity next time, to match the OPā€™s tone towards me? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/43 "2010-12-19T22:22:20Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > šŸ™‚ other than that, how have you enjoyed the thread? > > Do you recommend I use more snark and insults and vulgarity next time, to match the OPā€™s tone towards me? The not taking it personally thing works great both ways, thatā€™s just how it rolls. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/44 "2010-12-19T22:28:39Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > The not taking it personally thing works great both ways, thatā€™s just how it rolls. Wouldnā€™t that better be advice for the OP though? I donā€™t think I have taken anything personally or lashed out at anyone here. It is mysterious to me as to why I am singled out other than perhaps that I have used the most words to express myself. But that has to be someone in every thread, I donā€™t see it as notable. My content itself has been polite and respectful to the OP and others, even if the OP might not have wanted to hear it I suppose. But I am not a mindreader. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/45 "2010-12-19T22:37:42Z")
Seems to me youā€™ve got the old tests to review from as well as purchased notes to study for a year before taking the course again. You might be able to squeeze in some tutoring (paid) on your own time as well. Hang in there. On a side note, Iā€™ve never heard of pre-purchased notes before. I guess Iā€™m old. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/46 "2010-12-19T22:51:33Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Wouldnā€™t that better be advice for the OP though? I donā€™t think I have taken anything personally or lashed out at anyone here. It is mysterious to me as to why I am singled out other than perhaps that I have used the most words to express myself. But that has to be someone in every thread, I donā€™t see it as notable. My content itself has been polite and respectful to the OP and others, even if the OP might not have wanted to hear it I suppose. But I am not a mindreader. I did give that advice to the op. For everyone: Just repeat to yourself ā€œItā€™s just a thread, I should really just relaxā€ ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/47 "2010-12-19T22:58:50Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > I did give that advice to the op. Oh. It was presented as a response to me, so I thought it was directed to me. Is this bizarro-thread? šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/48 "2010-12-19T23:45:54Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Oh. It was presented as a response to me, so I thought it was directed to me. > > Is this bizarro-thread? šŸ˜• :smack: \*I gave that same advice to the op _in an earlier post_. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/49 "2010-12-20T00:34:30Z")
_Everyone_ needs to calm down and stop taking every remark personally, and _everyone_ needs to stop snarking at each other. In addition, everyone but the moderators needs to stop telling other people how to post. Dial it back, everyone. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/50 "2010-12-20T00:40:51Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > _Everyone_ needs to calm down and stop taking every remark personally, and _everyone_ needs to stop snarking at each other. > > In addition, everyone but the moderators needs to stop telling other people how to post. > > Dial it back, everyone. > > **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator FTR, I didnā€™t take Taoā€™s messages as snark, nor fo I think s/he took mine as such. Surprised to see another moderator stop byā€¦šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/51 "2010-12-20T20:20:12Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Protip: nitpicking is the Straight Dope past time. Nitpick: Itā€™s ā€œ[pastime](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pastime)ā€, from ā€œpass timeā€, not ā€œpast timeā€. Itā€™s something people do to ā€œpass the timeā€ with a little recreation, not something that people used to do in a time before the present. ---
**Author:** ![CTburns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@CTburns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CTburns)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/52 "2010-12-20T22:30:02Z")
Meagan I understand how frustrating this must be, but I want to warn you that most tests in Nursing school are given in this manner. Multiple choice with several answers that seem correct. Some people I went to nursing school with had a very difficult time with these types of tests. When studying with these people, I found that they frequently tended to over-think everything instead of focusing on what the instructor said in class. I always found that by taking good notes, and swapping notes with a study partner will help you discover things you might have missed in class. Refer back to the book only to clarify things that are not clear in your notes. You sound like an excellent student and a motivated person, but if you are the type to have problems with multiple choice exams, identify that now and work on that now. ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/53 "2010-12-20T23:15:19Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > As a current student myself, Iā€™m always happy when I see a wonky question like that on an exam. I think of them as a gimmie, a free point, because even if youā€™re struggling with the material you can still remember the lecture when he mentioned his 4 year old telling him her favorite color was pink or the day he told the story about a shopping trip to Costco. > > If Iā€™m stressed out during the exam I use these as a reminder to slow down, stay calm, and check my work. These ā€˜gimmiesā€™ always pissed me off: they make my 100% score less statistically significant. Furthermore, such ā€˜gimmiesā€™ penalize those who do not attend lecture. The professor may like to think himself a ā€œgreat mindā€ whose lectures are an inimitable service that cannot be proxied by textbooks, even textbooks written by those more accomplished in his field. This is pure vanity. I have had some great lecturers, and I have had some terrible lecturers. They should let me decide whether they are worth listening to. Itā€™s nice that they offer the service, truly. But Christ, test me on the material! Professors: the goal is to show that Iā€™m competent, not that I wasnā€™t bored to death by your lectures! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/54 "2010-12-21T12:38:00Z")
I know not\_alice is on a forced sabbatical right now, but he did ask for opinions on why the OP was upset in a way that required moderator intervention. > [@not\_alice](#): > > And the Moderator is telling me I am behaving incorrectly? As I see it I was polite in asking for a needed vocab clarification, none was forthcoming so I looked it up myself and shared, while patiently answering the OPā€™s questions of me, and got nothing in response but snark and insults which I wrote off to the OPā€™s having had a rough day) This doesnā€™t strike me as right, so I am open to explanations. Should I have been snarky and insulting? Not been interested in learning new vocabulary that seemed important to the OPā€™s story? Since you ask, perhaps I can be enlightening. First off, I believe you are sincere in your confustion, especially after this post: > [@not\_alice](#): > > OK, if it came off as harsh, I apologize for that, it was not my intent. But I think you are not looking at your entire first post in context. > [@not\_alice](#): > > Also wonder if the OP can explain why she thinks identifying and memorizing a bunch of pre-written notes is ā€œlearning the materialā€ while accusing the professor of playing mind games by asking questions on the exam that were not planned? > > I found this especially curious once I learned the course and the career path - does the OP think that being a nurse will be in any way routine or will it be more like taking the test, thinking on your feet with a lot on the line, all day, every day"? These two paragraphs, to me, come off as snark to me. Interpreting it in that way, you just called the poster stupid and dismissed her complaint. You implied she is not cut out to be a nurse, when all she did was complain about one class, and the frustration of not being able to move on academically because of that one class. You essentially belittled her frustration. Your question asking the definition of the words is not the one that upset the OP, I am 100% sure. ---
**Author:** ![Faelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c77e96/32.png) [@Faelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faelyn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/55 "2010-12-21T16:51:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > These two paragraphs, to me, come off as snark to me. Interpreting it in that way, you just called the poster stupid and dismissed her complaint. You implied she is not cut out to be a nurse, when all she did was complain about one class, and the frustration of not being able to move on academically because of that one class. You essentially belittled her frustration. > > Your question asking the definition of the words is not the one that upset the OP, I am 100% sure. Ok, reading this made me want to come back. **BigT** , youā€™ve hit the nail, heck the whole tool set, on the head. Iā€™ve been reading posts on this site for awhile and thought it was ok to come here to vent about something, and possibly get some encouragement. Iā€™d seen it countless times before. Seeing that grade post after working my ass off all semester was depressing. It made me feel like a failure. My boyfriend didnā€™t have his phone on him, and I was too ashamed at the moment to tell anyone else, so I turned here. I thought that this was a place I could tell someone and not be judged that I failed. And it seems I was wrong in that too. I donā€™t care that someone has issues with definitions, apparently theyā€™ve never in their life used slang before. No biggie, the worldā€™s a bigger place than a dictionary, and life moves on. But I will not be called out and mocked because of it. I love what Iā€™m training to do. Iā€™m good at it. I failed one class, a particularly hard class, and it seems like that makes some people believe Iā€™m not cut out for my chosen profession. I love helping people, I love making sick people feel better, I absolutely love being able to step up and do the gross/right thing. Who would you rather have by your side when you need help? The person who only took the class once and doesnā€™t give a shit, or the person who had to retake it and whoā€™s not going to let you die? Rant and rave about not using proper terminology by your standards, but Iā€™ll be damned if thatā€™s going to stand in the way of me doing something great with my life. I sincerely thank everyone who came by with _positive_ things to say, and I will take them to heart. Iā€™ll be sure to stop by again and let you know when I have my degree šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/56 "2010-12-21T16:57:39Z")
Sorry that Iā€™m piggybacking on your thread, but I didnā€™t think it was worth starting a new one. Basically the same thing happened to me as what happened to the OP. Iā€™m already on schedule to graduate a semester late, and now this means Iā€™ll probably have to take summer courses, meaning I canā€™t get a summer internshipā€¦ FUCK FUCK FUCK AND SHIT. And now Iā€™m not in ā€œacademic good standingā€, whatever that means. And I have to wait 3 weeks for the review board to tell me if there are going to be additional consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Faelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c77e96/32.png) [@Faelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faelyn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636/57 "2011-04-08T11:59:27Z")
Thank you so much everyone for the support, I really needed it right then and it meant alot to me. I am now in the second half of the course I failed, A&P2, because Iā€™m allowed to go ahead and take the second part without the first and itā€™s only offered in spring, so if I didnā€™t Iā€™d be a year behind not a semester. Iā€™ll be taking the first half, the one I failed, at a community college this summer. I have cut back my hours at work dramatically, which allowed me to go to the extra tutoring sessions, but means that my fiance has to take care of more of the bills now. He doesnā€™t mind, but I feel kinda bad about it. Right before every exam I go meet with the professor (same one) and we review key things he thinks I might have trouble with, and directly after each exam I meet with him to go over what I missed and why. Heā€™s giving out tons more extra credit this semester, which I am above and beyond appreciative for! So, good people on the Dope, I am proud to return to you with the grade of an A šŸ˜ƒ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-make-the-grade/564636.md?page=2)