A first: SAT test date called off for an ENTIRE country

Parents Forum
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<p>The May 4th SAT test has been called off for SKorea when it was discovered that copies of the actual test were being sold and distributed in advance of the test date. This is the first time ever that the test has been called off for an ENTIRE country. Now Korean kids are scrambling to book trips to Japan or Hong Kong to take the test next month.</p>

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<p>Huh, who would have guessed. /snark</p>

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<p>from the Wall Street Journal:
[SAT</a> Scandal Shines Harsh Light on South Korean Academics - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323744604578472313648304172.html]SAT”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323744604578472313648304172.html)

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<p>Amazing that it is the PARENTS who are the instigators</p>

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<p>Presumably, these are the parents who cannot afford the $4,575 cost of an advance copy of the test booklet. I would make the same complaint.</p>

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<p>This was reported earlier. What is none too early is the corrective action by TCB. In the meantime, the latest international test was the usual recycled version of a previous test. This not different from leaving the drug cabinets open in a rehab center.</p>

<p>Cheating is the direct result from parental pressures and the tacit acceptance of winning at all cost. </p>

<p>TCB is a membership organization. Its members are ultimately responsible to implement the right policy. And that policy should be to reject all international tests and place the successful applicants on probation and subject them to a secondary admission test before granting full admission. The technology exists and it is cheap. </p>

<p>All that is needed is the courage to admit there is a problem.</p>

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<p>They could have just reviewed older tests. Wasn’t this a 2008 test?</p>

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<p>What really surprised me in the WSJ article was, not the cheating in SKorea, but the graphic that shows the 4th most populous nationality for foreign students studying in the U.S. is Saudi Arabia-- half as many Saudi students as SKorean students.
<a href=“http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AI-CA829_SKCHEA_NS_20130508035708.jpg[/url]”>http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/AI-CA829_SKCHEA_NS_20130508035708.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You’d think that with all those petro-bucks, the Saudi’s would build themselves some more universities in their country. But then again, I wouldn’t imagine there would been much of a party scene on a college campus in Saudi Arabia…</p>

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<p>Hmmm… I saw a post about this earlier as well.</p>

<p>Definitely not fair for those who do truly work hard but I guess if it’s so rampant there is no way to be sure.</p>

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<p>TPG, the Saturday test is supposed to be one of the June 2007 tests. The Sunday one to borrow from January 2012 and one in 2009.</p>

<p>The above comes from students who took the tests abroad.</p>

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<p>Xiggi - you are up early!</p>

<p>So why the need to cheat when collegeboard is so inefficient and keeps repeating these tests abroad?</p>

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<p>Up early or working late. :)</p>

<p>Cheating, when condoned, becomes the norm. Compiling older tests requires a special kind od dedication. And getting the non-released ones … a different set of resources.</p>

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<p>Is it really? I expect the parents to have far more reach and contacts than high school students. How many Korean high school students have contacts in the US that can get them advance copies of the tests? Let alone the cash. I mean, a high school student can probably come up with 5K if they really wanted to, but it’s a lot easier to have your parents pay for it.</p>

<p>I don’t understand why the SAT would reuse over different countries with vastly different time zones and over years. For all their revenues (like 2 million tests @ ~50 a piece) they should be able to write 8 new tests a year.</p>

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<p>They should have just switched the tests. Those with that kind of money to buy the test are going to have no problem coughing up the funds to come here or elsewhere, where ever they can take it.</p>

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<p>Xiggi - I thought most training centers which provide testing practice have access to old tests? </p>

<p>“How many Korean high school students have contacts in the US that can get them advance copies of the tests?”</p>

<p>I don’t believe they are getting these from US. The common practice in such scandals is that someone got bribed to open the seals and give a copy of the test within the country. USMLE was banned in India for several years (might still be) during 80s and 90s because people were being bribed to give out a copy. I think the cost of getting a copy was close to 10 or 20,000 dollars back then.</p>

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<p>I don’t understand how hard it can be to secure the tests. It’s not currency, precious metals, or gems, it’s paper with some words on it. Why can’t they send US guards to guard the tests at the test locations and distribute them just before the testing takes place?</p>

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<p>Are we supposed to somehow believe Americans are less prone to bribery than others?</p>

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<p>Being in a country where you don’t speak the language, don’t know the culture, it’s certainly harder to work out these sorts of transactions. In addition it’s probably harder for the person offering the bribe to approach a foreigner. </p>

<p>But beyond that, culturally, I do think Americans are less prone to bribery than Koreans.</p>

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<p>^^ Transparency International seems to think so, too. In its 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, U.S. ranks #19 and SKorea ranks #45, out of 174 countries
[2012</a> Corruption Perceptions Index – Results](<a href=“http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results]2012”>http://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results)</p>

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<p>Why can’t people just act like decent human beings and do the right thing?</p>

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<p>You’re going to have to ask God about that one. But saying “people should just be good and we won’t have this problem” isn’t a very feasible solution. Given, not really my problem. More Korea’s problem.</p>