Nothing is happening the way I want it to happen

[tufguy]

Can I say "Nothing is happening the way I want it to happen"? For example here are a few sentences.

I wanted to be admitted to Oxford university after getting good marks at school. I could neither get good marks nor admission to Oxford university. Nothing is happening the way I wanted it to happen. Nothing is happening the way I planned it to happen.


Please check my sentences.

 

[Tarheel]

I know the feeling.

You could have stopped after the first sentence. You didn't have to work that hard. The sentence in question is perfectly good English. In the next post I will look at your paragraph.

 

[teechar]

Consider:
Nothing is going according to plan.

 

[Tarheel]

I wanted to be admitted to Oxford university after getting good marks at school. I could neither get good marks nor admission to Oxford university. Nothing is happening the way I wanted it to happen. Nothing is happening the way I planned it to happen.

That paragraph is a bit strange to me. In the first sentence you seem to say you got good marks at school. In the second sentence you say you didn't. Following is my suggested rewrite.

I wanted to go to Oxford University, but I knew I would have to get good marks at school. However, I could neither get good marks nor could I get admitted to Oxford University. Nothing is happening the way I wanted it to happen. Nothing is happening the way I planned it.

 

[emsr2d2]

If you're talking about things that already didn't happen, I see no need for "I could neither ... nor ...".

However, I didn't get good marks so I didn't get into Oxford.

 

[GoesStation]

You could say ​I didn't manage to get good marks, so I couldn't get into Oxford.

 

[Rover_KE]

Capitalise 'University' when it's part of a name - as it is here, and as Tarheel did.

 

[Phaedrus]

"Nothing is happening the way I want it to happen"

Here's another way to put the idea:

Nothing is going my way.