Oh yeah, my teachers rarely actually complimented anything I did. XD They said "this description is good, so stay in that vein," and then told me a whole lot of things that needed to be done to improve the story--but it was all well-considered stuff aimed at solving a problem. "This characterization needs improvement, so I would look at X from earlier in the story and think about referring back to it, because..."

It wasn't all pleasant, but it helped a ton. And they were always willing to answer questions.

I miss that a little bit. My program was heavy on the literary style, though, so I'd be miserable continuing it. :P