Chinese-national students exempted from the freaking SAT - unfair!

<p>Who say national college entrance exams is about swallowing the whole dictionaries. Even you swallow your whole textbook, you will never score high, or even fail, not like SATs, ACT etc. I know that the top scorers of such exam in China, most likely can deal with the university sophomore or even junior course directly, since most likely they will be the medal holder of science olympics. Who say they can't deal with universities.</p>

<p>lets just face it.. theres quotas on chinese and we definitely surpassed it by FAR... total population of asian in ameria is like... 5%? total population of asians in prestigous schools? 45 berkely, 30ish average for ivies and ivy plus (stanford, mit...) its totally overrepresented and totally hard for us to get in even with stellar records... then u have african americas... total population is like... 20? im not sure just guessing... but prestigous college population is like... 10%> definetly eassier to be african american with 1500 vs. asian.</p>

<p>
[quote]
u can imagine a chinese boy sitting at home memorizing the dictionary can't u? if u knew how a chinese student studies for the chinese college entrance exam, u would think the sat is a piece of cake

[/quote]

[quote]
sat math is a joke
sat iic math is also a joke

[/quote]
</p>

<p>very very true for many asian places, such as india as well....</p>

<p>I just heared the son of my mom's best friend got rejected at both U Penn. and Princeton with very solid scores. Well, it is not for us, both internationals and immigrants to get a spot in an ivy school, especially HYP and MIT.</p>

<p>the reason hat there are no SAT centers in mainland china is elementary.</p>

<p>they want all you 'comrades' to stay in the 'motherland' and work with the workers for a glorious future. j/k</p>

<p>do any chinese students know what the phrase</p>

<p>"hindi-chini bhai bhai" means? and in what historical context it was (in)famously used?</p>

<p>flamethrower: no i dont know what it means.. is it mandarin or some other language like tibet or hindi?</p>

<p>*sighs... oh well, just cuz we dont go to harvard or ivy don't mean we cant succeed... berkeley likes us, right? asians are totally taking over cali. </p>

<p>here in michigan, Troy is like... asian haven or something. its one of the richest city here, and their highschool is almost 50% chinese (maybe im exaggerating) our churches are connected and when we go there for trips, their houses are extravagantly big, with those spiral staircases and all. and with sumerset mall there, they all walk around carrying LV/coach/gucci bags.. </p>

<p>we're asian, we're smart, we're totally making our way into the u.s. system economically. u.s. cant live without china right now considering 99% of ALL their daily stuff is "made in china"... come on, without china, a lousy ugly toothbrush would cost $7 whereas now u can get an electronic one for $4. all the poor people would figuratively die here.</p>

<p>in 5-8 years when im through with school, id rather go work in china</p>

<p>its hindi- it means indian (hindi speaking) and chini (chinese speaking) are brothers..</p>

<p>google it.. you'll be surprised with it's historical context...</p>

<p>dude, something tells me you haven't visited china.. although shanghai and beijing have developed splendidly.. rural china is in the dumps- and thats where a mojority of the people live..</p>

<p>but i haven't visited china either, so i wouldn't know</p>

<p>i guess u can say i live in the cities. rural china IS kinda bad, sort of, kind of getting better in the past 10 years with movements to provide every town with electricity and such, and i've passed them before, stayed in one for a day, but i've never actually "lived" in a rural area. i dont know about "the majority" of people living in rural areas, but the main problem with china is the significant difference between the rich and the poor. even in the cities, there's a big difference between the garbage pickers and the CEOs, and there's no such thing as "food shelter" in china, so they just kinda sleep on the street. </p>

<p>its true shanghai and beijing and canton and all the big cities have become incredibly developed... how it see it... they can't really be any MORE developed inside, i mean after you build humongous buildings you dont wanna tear it down and rebuild it, so they start to expand.. and eventually it will affect the rural areas. it's already affecting the surrounding rural areas and making conditions better</p>

<p>I don't think it is unfair that chinese-national students are exempted from the SAT. </p>

<p>There are no SAT test center in China, the only ones are in Hong Kong. This is like asking all the SAT testers from different states (from california to texas to arizonia) to go to NYC to take the SAT. Furthermore, the mainlanders don't get to go to Hong Kong that easily as you simply fly to NYC from Florida. Going to Hong Kong requires a lot of documentations and certainly the transportation fee is not cheap. Therefore, SAT is not that available in China at all to most students and it is understandable that some Chinese students do not get to take the SAT.</p>

<p>Also, the chinese kids, given the right resources, will be able to score very highly on the SAT anyways. For those who say that Chinese kids will score a lot lower in the verbal section, I dare say this is totally untrue. I am sure, those Chinese kids can score as well as native speakers do, or even better than the native speakers. Look at the many many Chinese students who came over to the states for college right after HS- those who have taken the SAT usually have incredibly high verbal scores. If you fully understand the chinese education system and examination system, you will know that SAT is relatively very simple. Someone mentioned "sat math is a joke, sat iic math is also a joke". I totally agree. Just go to China and look into one of those primary school mathematics textbooks. You'd be very surprised. Those primary school (i.e. elementary school) kids in big cities in China, e.g. Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, etc will not have any problem with the SAT Maths. And the Lower Secondary (i.e. Middle School) kids can certainly manage the SAT IIC maths with no problem as well. I know many of my friends scoring 800 in SAT maths section when they took it in Grade 5/6 without any prior preparation. On the whole, I would say that the SAT scores is not a major factor at all in college applications for Chinese students because all of them, esp those given the resources, do achieve very high scores.</p>

<p>However, applying to US colleges without SAT is still a disadvantage because it seems like "some numbers are missing on the app". It gives the app reader a feeling that it is hard to compare this student with the US students. Furthermore, there are definitely quotas on the number of students taken from a particular country, even if the college denies this. This is simple and understandable, because they US colleges are not "international colleges", they have to keep a good balance of the students of different races, background, interests. Berkeley and UCLA have so much asians only because both are state school and there are so many asians in California. Therefore, it is actually unfair TO the chinese students, and not to others. </p>

<p>For those who say China is still undeveloped, you are wrong too. I have lived for a few months, in a few places in China which are considered to be very very rural. Those people there may not have computers, proper toilets; the children might not have proper schooling, the families might have to leave their children behind in the villages to go to big ciities to eke out a meanger living, etc etc. However, it is a completely different story in those rural, "undeveloped" places. They have their own water system, their own way to live. They just have a different style of living. They may not have television or telephone, but there's a whole lot of love there, they warmly welcome everyone, even strangers like us. They have their own history and traditions and culture. It's just different. In addition, we can't expect China, a country with over 5000 years of history, to change in a century, after all the war, cultural revolution and massacre, into a completely, wholly, high-tech advanced country. Advancements and development can not take place in a blink of time. </p>

<p>Oh well, i guess this enough talking.... haha and i suppose many of you out there might disagree with what i have just said! =P</p>

<p>...no, I pretty much agree. I'm sure many Chinese people would score quite highly on exams such as the Writing SAT II (or the new SAT component, whatever they changed it to) and the SAT Verbal, because they're really just marked to a predetermined formula. I'm a competent writer, and my GCSEs/A-Levels show that - but it still didn't stop me from doing pretty poorly on the SAT II Writing, simply because I can't get my head around writing a finely honed and tuned essay to a set pattern.</p>

<p>... this topic is stupid... i mean... its not even asking them to take it in a different state, its almost like u have to buy an airplane ticket to canada or something... think about the stress/money... i mean here u just wake up at 7:00 and go take it but there u have to get on a at least 2 hour plane ride if your not from the south.. i mean... its basicly one shot, like u cant take it in march then go back and take it in may again its just not feasible... u have to miss at least a week of school just to get to hongkong or whereever and live there for a few nights since i do not think a person can get off the plane at 5:00 a.m. and go take the SAT at 8:00 a.m.</p>

<p>I have to say most mainland applicants have a mental reluctance to take SAT because they fear they will get low verbal scores. (I'm from mainland so I'm quite sure about the situation.)
Travelling is not a problem. As long as you are willing to live plainly, you can control the travel fee within 100 dollars.</p>

<p>i cant imagine traveling to a different country to take it... theres 4 test centers within a 5 mile radius from my house here, and i get so mad in the morning for waking up at 7:30 on saturday morning... i mean... i live on michigan state univ campus and the test center is literally 5 minute WALK away so i leave my house at like 7:55 go the test center</p>

<p>and if i dont do well then i just repeat the process again in 2 month</p>

<p>I don't think this thread is stupid - my main objective is to find out WHY it is banned in China because it is unfair that the Chinese are exempted from it. For god's sake, open a freaking SAT centre there. If foreign (including US) businesses can invest there, why can't an educational testing centre do the same thing?</p>

<p>Rumour has it that it has to do with politics, and also something to do with some cheating scandal and the GRE. Beyond that, no one will say (and I've tried to find out).</p>

<p>
[quote]
because it is unfair that the Chinese are exempted from it.

[/quote]

how it is unfair?</p>

<p>It is unfair because the admission officers, knowing that the Chinese are exempted from the SAT, will not take into account assessing this area of a candidate's academic record - simple.</p>

<p>So where does all this jealousy come from? We Chinese don't owe the world anything and the world definitely owes us with a fair perspective in viewing us. Is it the case that the Chinese nationals have a relatively high admission rate into Ivies and elite universities around the globe? That is certainly the case. Somebody seems to be complaining that we're encroaching upon the high-quality portion of world education resources? Hmm...seems protectionism is on the rise again, paradoxically, with the deepening of globalization. But are we admitted simply because of the so-called comparative advantage, which is the FREAKING exemption from the FREAKING easy SAT? Oops, dude, no... Admission officers have emphasized time and time again that SAT is by no means the single measure in evaluating an applicant. If you do wanna get into college with your FREAKING high SAT score, go to state schools but I'm pretty sure that most ppl posting on this thread are not American citizens so state schools probably don't work for international applicants who are SAT high-achievers. Sorry about my angst-filled platitude and excuse me for that.
OK, I'm gonna talk about the SAT scenario in China. There's no certified SAT testing service currently being offered in Mainland China. However, there is testing service operated in Hong Kong. Right now, there are some prep centers aimed at providing SAT prep for those avid kids who wanna step into the Ivies in America. Mostly, they come from middle or upper-middle class families and their parents would be much delighted if their kids could get into top-notch US universities. And my parents are definitely among them. For those families who truly support their child's ambition to pursue education in the US, they wouldn't worry about spending money on return tickets from a major coastal city to Hong Kong and they wouldn't worry about buying their kids a lot of test prep books like "The 10 Real SATs". For those people who really wanna get admitted, they wouldn't risk not taking SAT because not taking the SAT will place them at a very disadvantageous level when they're put in the applicant pool full with SAT high-achievers, and definitely some among them are Chinese nationals. When I applied for colleges, my family spent around like USD$1300 on everything from app fees to test prep books and my parents showed great support. So did my friends' parents. For class of 2004, several kids I know got accepted at elite US universities. I have friends accepted at Cornell, WUSTL, UPenn, Emory, Tulane, University of Pittsburg, Boston University blah blah blah and all of them DID take the FREAKING SAT. So for those people who worry about the "comparative advantage" that we have and my best advice for you is that you stop worrying about us swallowing hot spots at elite schools. We got accepted because of our extraordinary credentials built on years of hard work and most important of all, a solid foundation in education that gets us ahead of the game. As master card ad puts it, "There's something that money can't buy. For everything else, there is master card." I would like to wrap up by saying that "There's something that SAT can't replace. For everything else, there is hardcore stat".</p>

<p>Oh, I forgot to mention that the vacancy of SAT testing center definitely has nothing to do with politics. Why does the FREAKING SAT have to do with politics? Relating the vacancy of a SAT testing center in Mainland China with politics is like relating Saddam Hussein with terrorism. What's it got to do with politics? Ridiculous. It's not written in the constitution that People's Republic of China prohibits the setting up of SAT testing center. People, we need brainpower.</p>

<p>It's not "jealousy" we're talking about. We just think it's unfair. How would you know they are at disadvantage? Maybe they're just too overly anxious that their children won't get into the Ivies if they don't take the FREAKING SAT - therefore it is an added advantage for them. And sure SATs aren't everything, in fact i loathe the SATs - which is why I would actually prefer to be exempted like you guys. Mind you, it's a fact that I got into a very good uni without high SAT scores. SAT is just one of the elements that's being considered, but is nevertheless important.</p>