Of course freedoms don't guarantee an outcome. That isn't what freedom is about. In your example it assumes some higher authority that intervenes to ensure tha

Of course freedoms don't guarantee an outcome. That isn't what freedom is about. In your example it assumes some higher authority that intervenes to ensure that you get what is your right. What about the person you are replacing in that incoming class? For you to get the spot that you deserve someone else has to lose their spot (assuming there is a finite capacity). Wasn't their "right" just violated? As a thought experiment you can simplify this a bit more by thinking about an even more basic necessity. Food. Is there a "right to food"? That sounds like a positive right to me. It can only be guaranteed by someone else doing something for me (i.e. providing me with food). So why should I have to pay for my groceries? Shouldn't I be able to just go somewhere and get all the food I need because it is my right? If you say that I need to pay for it, then it certainly doesn't sound like a right to me, that just sounds like commerce. Once you drop the requirement that someone else provide the food to me, then I would argue you aren't really talking about a basic "right" at that point. Certainly it is a necessity to live, but that doesn't mean that the universe will magically provide that necessity to me nor does it mean that someone else should be forced to provide it to me.