Or imagine you’re training for an elite specialization such as flight school…especially for a slot as a fighter/attack pilot.
When my NROTC graduate cousin who was a STEM major(CS), graduated with flying colors, later attended flight school in Pensacola, and spent 7 years as a Naval aviator I recalled him saying one could be washed out at any point of flight school…whether from not performing at the high standards required in practice flights at each training stage or not getting at least a 94% on the academic side written exams required.
Yes, getting a 93% on such exams was one way to immediately wash out of flight school and pleading with the instructors to bump up the grade will not go over very well with one’s instructors or flight school peers.
And this was in the late '80s/early '90s when there were many more slots for aspiring Air Force/Navy aviators than now.