<p>The Gaokao questions are harder but....I bet these kids have been preparing for it their whole life like American kids have been with the SAT/ACT. The questions are difficult but are comprable to those you will see on AP Exams. Also, think about it, you cannot take what the press says at face value. Chances are to make the test even harder than it seems, they took the hardest question from the Gaokao and the easiest from whichever test they use in the UK. (Look at the UK's question...I don't honestly believe that is representative of their educational system)</p>
<p>Also...the Gaokao IS the fairest way..however fairest does not necessarily imply best.</p>
<p>Yeah...Japan definitely has a very similar testing procedure, even with construction halts and everything. Helicopters too. Apparently police officers cruise the streets the morning of to see if any testing kids are running late and need a ride, haha. I know in Japan, the stakes are high to the extent of your score range influencing who you marry! -.-;</p>
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Chances are to make the test even harder than it seems, they took the hardest question from the Gaokao and the easiest from whichever test they use in the UK.
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<p>The U.K. question did not come from an entrance exam like the Gaokao or the SAT. It came from a diagnostic test for **first-year<a href="i.e.%20admitted">/b</a> students.</p>
<p>My S is teaching English in China. He thinks Chinese kids are incredibly stressed and that they study, study, study -- even more than highly motivated top American students. He said this single 2 day test determines the rest of their lives and that grades, extracurriculars, etc. are not nearly as important as this test.</p>
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"Of course kids of lower social economic status will do poorer on tests. What a revelation. They will also do worse in grades, in extracurricular activities, basically anything in academia. What do you propose, eliminate any admission criteria related to academics, all in the name for equality?"
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<p>Are you suggesting that kids of lower socio-economic status will inherently do worse academically? Academic standards are not the issue, the issue is the notable lack of opportunities for kids who are not as well off. Kids in private and elite public high schools have many chances to excel academically: AP/IB programs, well-funded extra-curricular programs (debate, olympiads, etc.), mentors for advanced studies, and the like. Poorer school districts are more geared to vocational training, if at all, and for the most part exist to fulfill the obligation of a basic education. It's very difficult to be a competitive student from these kinds of backgrounds, simply because the knowledge one needs to excel academically isn't available. This is certainly true for those who live in rural areas, as public magnet schools and well-stocked libraries are not easily accessible.</p>
<p>i was running around in taiwan a few summers ago, and I saw a prep book for the Math subject on the Taiwan's equivalent of gaokao.</p>
<p>I flipped a few pages and saw a few chapters on sets, logic, and induction. ****, I didn't even knew those subjects existed until sophmore year of college.</p>
<p>it's not only in japan or korean, but in Thailand too. i was lucky enough to breeze through it since i was going to a college in the states anyway, but i witnessed my friends staying up overnight (or barely slept) for like a year. Some students paid their entire parents' fortune to go to tutor's school in order to score high. these exams transformed people... from someone who was really playful, nice and a good student to a tired, frustrated, distracted and irritating. A lot of my friends refused to pay attention to anything that was taught in class but would not be in the exams. Parents went extremely crazy and would do anything to get their kids into majors that would make money, i.e. medicine, engineering, law, accounting, econ. i can tell the american exams are the easiest one on earth, easier than the european ones. however, the american admissions systems are most beneficial to applicants, not because they are less competitive, but at least they would consider excellence in virtually anything. in most asian places, applicants are, and entirely judged by that holy number---the test scores. </p>
<p>the thai government attempted to transform the admissions system into something more resemble to the american system... to be more subjective. it turns out all types of dirty corruptions came up. it was never clear how the whole thing worked after they changed the system. i took the test when it was the final year that they used only scores to decide whether to accept or not--the decisions were made with computers, with simple score ranking. the next year my brother took it and he told me people who virtually took the test mysteriously scored zero... then they canceled the scores and re-reported it about three times. there was a guideline as to how much each thing should be weighted but the guideline changed several times too. i guess you really have to be american to use the american system.</p>
<p>math topics i did in high school (for about 4 - 6 hours/week for about three years)
precalc, calc with differential equation
starting linear algebra
graph theory
logic and proof
number theory
geometry with proof
statistics and data representation
linear programming</p>
<p>my SATI math: 800, SATII math 2C: 800, GRE quant:800</p>
<p>these asian kids typically do much better than american kids if they get a chance to go to college in the states.
and whether disadvantaged kids get a chance to go to college or not, it totally depends on their environment. if their friends aspire to study and they are smart enough and the parents see the importance of college, then they usually get to college. if they have bad friends or discouraging parents then they don't. i see poor kids becoming doctors and engineering just that way.</p>
<p>Well, this testing in Asia is detrimental in a way that this test determines which college a student is going, instead of extracurriculars and GPA which show more of the quality of the student.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion: why don't we get back to the actual topic? I really don't see the point why people love proving themselves right on some entirely trivial matter...</p>
<p>I'm in China right now and I was in Shanghai during the time of GaoKao... I'm not kidding how seriously the gaokao is taken... Guards stand outside the schools... if a student is running late... gongan(police) will bring you to the testing center... wow wish they could do that for my SAT's</p>
<p>after the gaokao... all the seniors are free!!! wow it's such an exciting and tense time for them.... it's really incredible....</p>
<p>don't forget about chukao also.... the school in the end of middle school that decides what HS you enter... goodness thatisnt so easy either</p>
<p>I live in Japan, but I don't think the testing in Japan is as intense as it is in Korea or China; we listen to the intenseness of the gaokao with surpise as well. While the tests are still a very important part of a 12th grader's life, we understand that the "tests aren't everything"; the test isn't as hard as it was when our parents were growing up.</p>
<p>In Japan, the "Center Test" is just "part 1" of the testing process, because after the "center" comes the individual tests for each school. The individual tests are usually harder, and the "center test" itself isn't the most important part in the admission process.</p>
<p>In any case, such rumors that Japanese choose marriage partners according to these tests is a complete lie. "Police officers sending students to test centers" or "construction work being put off for the test" are rare cases, and if a police officier really did send a student to a test center, it would certainly be written in the newspaper.</p>
<p>Personally, I think its hard to decide which system (the US system vs the Asian System) is better. While the US system offers a great chance for a students to show his experience, the process is subjective (the essay, for example, could be graded in many ways). On the other hand, the Asian system tests only a single test result, but it is "fair", and if you study hard, the chances are that the hard work will pay off (cf. the SAT, isn't about studying hard; the orgins of the SAT is a "IQ test", and its meant to scale that persons inherent abilities).</p>
<p>Aw, I lived in Japan and I think their juken benkyou is more stressful (for admission to high school) than daigaku. In Japan, students participate in a lot of activities, and these activities teach them skills that become useful later on... like woodwork, cooking, cleaning (like how you clean the classroom after school) and of-course the normal fun activities like sports. I have heard of kids dying over the local Secondary School certificate and High School certificate exams here but while I did hear of kids having a seizure in Japan from watching intensified graphics anime after a rigorous week of study but no case caused my exams alone ... especially at the adult age although I am sure there have been a couple.</p>