East Asian Linguistics

On a specific day each year, all activity in Korea is halted. Flights are grounded, military drills pause, and businesses open later than usual, to limit disruptions for this national event that affects students across the country. This event, known as the Suneung, formally the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), is South Korea’s national college entrance examination.

Only administered once a year, the Suneung plays a key role in determining students’ academic and professional routes, particularly for highly selective universities. Scholars describe the CSAT as a high-stakes gatekeeping mechanism, one that shapes not only university admissions but also secondary education curricula, teaching practices, and student lifestyles (Kwon, Lee, & Shin, 2015). The exam’s influence extends beyond schools, structuring family decision-making and fueling a large private tutoring sector, while also raising concerns about student stress and educational equity.

Students face a similar level of pressure in China through the Gaokao, their national college entrance examination. Because grading standards and educational resources vary widely across regions, the Gaokao functions as a centralized and standardized measure intended to provide a relatively uniform basis for university admissions. Researchers argue that this standardization is central to perceptions of fairness within China’s higher education system, despite persistent regional inequalities (Wang & Chen, 2024).

University placement in China is largely determined by Gaokao scores. Universities are organized into tiers, with each tier requiring a minimum cutoff score that varies by province. Students apply to institutions and academic majors based on their examination results, meaning that exam performance determines not only where students attend university, but often what they study. Academic specialization is similarly hierarchical, with competitive majors such as medicine, engineering, and finance demanding substantially higher scores.

Preparing for China’s college entrance examination requires a long period of rigor and effort, and students often structure their entire secondary education around studying for the exam. Research notes that with such a narrow focus, students have limited time for sports, creative activities, and other personal interests.  (Kwon et al., 2015).

China’s reliance on exam-based admissions is something continued from their historical roots. The modern Gaokao is often linked to earlier civil service examinations used to select government officials based on merit and capability, ultimately preventing corruption. (Elman, 2013).While the content of exams have changed, China’s approach toward higher education continues to be shaped by these standardized evaluations.

Other East Asian countries also employ this similar approach of exam-centered admissions. Students in Japan prepare to take standardized entrance exams that play a major role in university placement, much like those of Korea and China.

In the United States, admissions follow a more decentralized system. Instead of relying on a single national exam, universities reviewing applications consider a combination of materials that reflect students’ performance over time.

A holistic review of admissions in the US includes high school grades, standardized testing such as the SAT and ACT, sports, and extracurricular activities. This process of review encourages youth to explore interests and hobbies beyond academics and generally produces more well-rounded individuals.

However, this diversification of skills outside of the classroom also compromises academic effort in achieving specialized and higher level academic courses.

As classrooms and labor markets become increasingly global, understanding these differing admissions systems provides insight into how societies define merit, success, and opportunity,  and how educational structures shape student experiences long before college begins.

References:

Kwon, S.K., Lee, M., & Shin, D. (2015).

Educational assessment in the Republic of Korea: Lights and shadows of a high-stake exam-based education system. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 22(1), 60–77.

Available via ResearchGate.

Wang, L., & Chen, C. J. (2024).

The China’s College Entrance Examination research: A literature review from 2014 to 2023. International Journal of Religion, Article ID xeyvdy02.

Available via ResearchGate.

Elman, B. A. (2013).

Civil Examinations and Meritocracy in Late Imperial China. Harvard University Press.