<p>College application essays don't seem so bad anymore :)</p>
<p>I'm a korean and I got a phone call from my cousin a few days ago asking me to pray for him so that he could do well on the test. Sure, I will - but I don't get it </p>
<p>IMO, asian parents need to think more broadly. We moved to Canada 13 years ago. My sister was never an "excellent" student; She had a good mix of A's and B's, practically no ECs, but a pretty high SAT score (Still, nothing compared to that beastly thing in korea). She was applying for colleges and, for the helk of it, applied to Korea's 2nd best University (yonsei). She was in Korea over the summer for vacation and that's when she had her interview. Guess what? she got accepted. Sure, she worked hard but she NEVER had to stay up until 3 to study for any exam. Colleges aren't confining themselves to their own students anymore. It's a global world and they are starting to recruit students that will help them widen their reputation internationally. In some cases, there are shortcuts to admission.</p>
<p>Damn, I wish US college admissions were like this, so I could slack off all of high school and not care about my GPA.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Damn, I wish US college admissions were like this, so I could slack off all of high school and not care about my GPA.
[/quote]
That's exactly how I felt when I heard about something like that, to just chill since everything's decided based on a single test.</p>
<p>And then as soon as I said that at school to my asian (or korean?) friends, oh man, they got annoyed - and a couple asian girls from their countries started slapping me and saying "You crazy it difficult test!! you have no idea!"</p>
<p>^thats slightly racist lol</p>
<p>the idea that you can slack off and be vindicated by one test is indeed a somewhat liberating thought i must admit.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In fact, the most represented foreign minority in ivy league schools and other nationally ranked schools are Koreans. Couple of Korean high schools like Daewon high school and Minjok high school boasts the highest average SAT scores in the world (around 2250 is school average for both schools) and ivy-acceptances that are comparable to that of top high schools in US although all appicants from Korea are considered internationals.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A lot of Korean applicants to US schools hold US citizenship, so that means they're just considered domestic applicants.</p>
<p>I hope these kids thank their parents, especially their mothers who go through all of that psychological and physical stress. Hey kids in Korea reading this - say thank you! Look what they're doing for you!</p>
<p>Don't ever groan about doing Extracurricular, writing essays, reading materials and writing assignments... It's the best thing you could ever do compared to being a South Korean student AND you get rewarded for it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wait... how long is the MCAT?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The MCAT itself is about 4 hr, 20 min, but if you use all of the optional breaks, it could last up to ~5 hr, 20 min.</p>
<p>as someone who is naturally good at standardized tests, i wish that admissions could be based on one test</p>
<p>Well, as someone mentioned before, China does almost the same thing. Their college-entrance test is actually couple days long. I think the students can retake the test, but since it's offered only once a year, they have to basically repeat their 12th grade. Now to think of it, SAT is the happy land compare to this.</p>
<p>actually, it's 3 days</p>
<p>and some of districts are 4-5days</p>
<p>first time heard that happen...
which means Koren's education system is way better than China's now</p>
<p>the ones with the citizenship won't hurt us that much...
They are Asians that grew up in US, not as competitive as the students that were educated in Korea.</p>
<p>Heh.. just found this online. Its a ranking of the top 30 countries in math/science.</p>
<p>OECD/PISA Study:
Mathematical Literacy</p>
<ol>
<li>Japan</li>
<li>Korea</li>
<li>New Zealand</li>
<li>Finland</li>
<li>Australia</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>Switzerland</li>
<li>United Kingdom</li>
<li>Belgium</li>
<li>France</li>
<li>Austria</li>
<li>Denmark</li>
<li>Iceland</li>
<li>Liechtenstein</li>
<li>Sweden</li>
<li>Ireland</li>
<li>Norway</li>
<li>Czech Republic</li>
<li>United States</li>
<li>Germany</li>
<li>Hungary</li>
<li>Russian Federation</li>
<li>Spain</li>
<li>Poland</li>
<li>Latvia</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Portugal</li>
<li>Greece</li>
<li>Luxembourg</li>
<li>Mexico</li>
<li>Brazil </li>
</ol>
<p>OECD/PISA Study:
Scientific Literacy</p>
<ol>
<li>Korea</li>
<li>Japan</li>
<li>Finland</li>
<li>United Kingdom</li>
<li>Canada</li>
<li>New Zealand</li>
<li>Australia</li>
<li>Austria</li>
<li>Ireland</li>
<li>Sweden</li>
<li>Czech Republic</li>
<li>France</li>
<li>Norway</li>
<li>United States</li>
<li>Hungary</li>
<li>Iceland</li>
<li>Belgium</li>
<li>Switzerland</li>
<li>Spain</li>
<li>Germany</li>
<li>Poland</li>
<li>Denmark</li>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Liechtenstein</li>
<li>Greece</li>
<li>Russian Federation</li>
<li>Latvia</li>
<li>Portugal</li>
<li>Luxembourg</li>
<li>Mexico</li>
<li>Brazil </li>
</ol>
<p>Source: OECD</a> PISA Study Provides International Comparative Data on Schooling Outcomes</p>
<p>smalllab, true. But korean students with status in US are still competitive nonetheless.</p>
<p>god damn koreans make me look stupid lol</p>
<p>I'm kind of surprised that Canada's placed pretty high.</p>
<p>Damn, I wish US college admissions were like this, so I could slack off all of high school and not care about my GPA.</p>
<p>^ Korean pride. anyways. if you slack off in high school you've screwed all hope for getting into college. you still get GRADES in high school, and they're like mini sooneungs, cuz the only things that really count are your midterm exams and annual exams. as GREAT as that is, it does not leave any room for practice or any effective way to say "whew! i'm done studying" whereas in tests you've had previous experience in them to determine whether or not how much you should study for the actual exams, which only count for like 20% of our grades (well in lower classes. probably 40%ish in harder classes) in korean schools, these are 100% of your grades. failed that exam? you failed your school.</p>
<p>and it follows a ranking system. you lag behind, you're the school's dumbass</p>
<p>The only reason Canada is ranked so high is because it has so many naturalized or second generation Chinese, Korean, and Indian students.</p>
<p>I know this is not exactly how Korea works things but if everything was based on a test- things would be so much easier for everyone, either you go to a top college or not- lol.</p>