@sgopal2 Chinese citizens can’t take the SAT in mainland China. They all go to HK, Singapore, or Korea to take it (sometimes Japan). SAT testing centers in China only serve international students (which includes Chinese with foreign citizenship).
@ThankYouforHelp I’ve taught at top universities in China, and your brother’s experience is common.
@EYeager In most cases, I don’t think the Jan scores were going to be available on time to make a difference for seniors’ college applications
@jym626 that article is, in part, poorly researched. Its subtitle: “Agencies seek to root out widespread fraud in China”. The agencies (who help get students into US colleges) contribute to the fraud, rather than root it out. Getting Chinese students into US colleges (and high schools) is a huge money-making business.
So College Board’s solution to deal with cheating is to either delay scores for years and release a whole lotta 2400s after all or reschedule test and recycle the exams whatsoever. Brilliant.
Fortunately I wasn’t affected by these measures because I finished testing early, but as one of the MANY honest Chinese test takers, I have to say that these measures have caused harm to honest students way more than to cheaters.
They have also cancelled tests today in Spain, Bahrain and Kazakhstan. Was that also for cheating?
Sources?
Makes sense since much of the northeast is cancelled due to the storm. So if they have to reschedule in New York and do a new test, why not do it in other places and send a message?
I have no experience with the Chinese but based on what some posters have said about what is not considered cheating, having a friend or employee do work for you and so forth, by US standards there would not be any HONEST students except for western students who are in China on an exchange or because of their parents. Or students too poor to bribe anyone who are probably not applying here anyway. Not making a judgement, just looking at it practically. It sounds like they simply do not understand out system.
Here is a suggestion, have some organization, whether the college board, a group of ivies or other elite colleges put together a list of dos and don’ts. Send it to all administrators and GCs in China whose students have applied to US schools in the past. Put them on notice.
And those who follow the do’s and dont’s will be at a disadvantage compared to those who continue to cheat. So how many would follow the rules? There needs to be a stronger system of checks and balances.
The spirits of generations of Imperial Examiners are smiling on this with nostalgia and amusement. Finally avenged, they can now continue their journey through the after-life.
But seriously, will SAT reimburse those who travelled to take the test?(I think somebody should do that, but nobody will). As a student who had to take the test in another country at a significant cost, I can imagine the plight of the poor honest students who may have travelled for the test.
Also , why don't test centers in China service Chinese citizens? Is that meant to hinder the brain drain?
Please do not take this the wrong way, but it is incredibly difficult to stop cheating in a country where institutionalized cheating has occurred on standardized tests since time immemorial.
Of course, that is not to say that the cheaters are a big portion of the test takers. Honest students are the real victims here.
I revised my post because I felt that my words had come out wrong.
@cowtownbrown - If you are not Chinese yourself, you have no right to “think this may be a culture thing.” Yes, many cheat by having companies write their college essays. A lot more cheat by “get[ting] help from classmates on tests and assignments.” But so do many, many American students, to the point where splitting work, finding answers on the internet, and sharing homework answers is considered “normal” here in our own country.
I agree that the number of fraudulent applications is outrageous, but you can’t conjecture the reason to be a mere “cultural thing.” So many American students also lie on their apps and cheat on standardized tests, perhaps in more subtle ways: exaggerating their leadership positions/the impact an EC had on their lives, “glancing over” at someone else’s paper during a test, going back and working on previous sections during SATs. Of course you don’t find articles in the New York Times about these instances. Of course our media choose to sensationalize the “gao kao” and entire college process in China instead.
Cheaters in China do not cheat because it is “acceptable” in Chinese culture, just like cheaters in the US do not cheat because we think that cheating is “okay” here. Cheating is perpetuated by many things–pressure, peers, parents–but it is NOT the result of culture.
Something needs to be done about cheating in China and India, but something also needs to be done about cheating in the US.
I’m sorry that your perception of the majority of the millions of Chinese and Indian students are based on your experience with the few you’ve encountered in your school.
There’d a lot of outrage if in these postings “Chinese” were replaced by “Blacks” or “Muslims”, and “cheating” were replaced by “crime” or “terrorism”, respectively.
It’s in their culture?!?!? Please!
@glasshours ur absolutely right
@glasshours
I said " I THINK this MAY" because I’m no authority on China, and I don’t claim to be. The more time I spend in China the more I realize how much I don’t know about it! I’m just speaking from my experience. I’m not saying that the only reason is some kind of Chinese tradition, but I am saying that I have noticed situations where some of my Chinese friends have legitimately not understood why they cannot exchange information on tests. For example, one of my friends got into trouble because he shared test questions under the assumption that the teacher would have a different test for the other class. He was completely baffled by the idea that two classes with lunch between them would get the same test. I’ve not really experienced malicious, intentional cheating in my school. I think it may have something to do with a language barrier in addition to them coming from a different school system into ours (which is an international school with US based curriculum and teachers) i.e: cultural differences.
I do agree that there are also serious cheating problems within the US, I think also that we have a culture of silence on this a lot of times. When I went to public school, among the top 10% or so, cheating was rampant and often considered a necessity to do well. One of these people even argued that being able to cheat successfully was a part of the test and a life skill (no joke). When one girl posted something about cheating on FB and someone reported it, that person was ridiculed. When I got into contact with my orchestra director about a girl who had lied on her application with a fake supplement, I dealt with some backlash. What I don't understand is why anyone would remain quiet about these sorts of things. I do think that in a lot of environments the idea that cheating is normal is propagated, especially within student groups. Cheating is a problem in all countries, but I think what makes international cheating on applications such a particular problem is that colleges have control over this part of the process and the information a student provides is very difficult to verify. On top of all that, international admissions are infinitely more selective. The problem is often placed on China and India, not because these countries have lower morals but because of the sheer volume of applications from these two countries.
I think the media picks on China and Asian countries in particular because some Americans feel threatened by the Asian stereotype and it’s a lot easier to simply say they are cheating than it is to confront the fact that one may not be studying as they should. It’s a classic us versus them mentality.
While Colleges have no control over classroom cheating, they do have control over admissions and applications. So this is an easy place for them to start curbing cheating and lying on their end in order to make the whole process more fair. The College Board also has control over the scores they validate. I think it’s also high time that they started rescinding scores from students who are discovered after the fact to have had someone else take the test for them, like that cheating ring in NYC a while back. So many students were discovered, yet the college board did nothing to alert the colleges these kids applied and got accepted to.
It is somewhat terrifying but not at all surprising to see how many CC posters are using this information as an excuse to bare their inner racism.
Acknowledging cheating and academic dishonesty is one thing… but using it against an entire group of people (while dodging accountability for cheaters elsewhere) is completely another.
And changing ones screen name to post is also dodging accountability.
@Lindagaf You realize that there are many students that did not cheat right?
@londondad Yes, but they cancelled the Barcelona one for climate reasons, I don’t know about the latter two.
@4kidsdad It’s on the CB website, I don’t know if it’s down.
@ueutyi , of course I realize that. My first sentence said that as well. Probably the number of cheaters is minute. It is unfortunate that a few have ruined things for so many.
@jym626 Are you addressing me? I just made this account so that I could anonymously post about living in an abusive situation and seeking financial aid.