China's High Stakes "Gaokao" Test Under Scrutiny

multivichyf
Sun, 07 Jul 2013 00:29:24 +0000

As a Chinese student, I took the “gaokao” test a year ago, while I’m preparing for transferring to a US university. And this kind of test has both good side and bad one.

Well, bad first. This test shows unfairness among Provinces (China states). In different province, acceptance rate and test difficulty differs. For example, I study in a province where as many as 660,000 took the test in 2012, which is the topmost one or two in the country. However, the Peking U and the Tsinghua U admitted 92+140 in my province, including those who have been pre-admitted. The rate, as you can see, is 0.03%. That’s insane, isn’t it? NO, in Beijing, they admitted 366+363 in 73,460 students, that’s near 1%! See, as a student in my province, entering the two universities are almost mission impossible. I ranked 1,800 in that “660,000” throng, that’s top 0.3%, while I was only admitted to a provincial well-known university that ranks 50 in Asia.

Furthermore, the test is soooo hard. We spent a whole year reviewing over and over again, roughly 3 rounds. But in the ultimate test, you would probably find questions you never heard of, you’ll be doing tough math in a short time, and only a few geniuses can solve it. Usually, you won’t practice them in your review, for you’ll never know in which part these questions come. I am preparing SAT. I love it, comparing with “gaokao”. By the way, we do participate in activities. We play basketball, we hold parties, and we do volunteer works. But we are asked not to do more, which means if we didn’t behave well in a single test, we could be eliminated from a “good class”, or superior class. Teachers won’t be the same “good” in a “regular class”. This is too specific and I’m not going to cover it.

However, it does have benefits in “gaokao”. First, we practice a lot in math, so we are so skilled. We are forced to do loads of homework every day, solving problems of Analytic Geometry, while solving a single question can take up an hour and 3 or 4 papers of calculation. This is why Chinese students have a strong fundamental skill in calculation and elementary mathematics. Second, we have strong nerves, which is for sure. You are not learning how to prevent nervousness as a student in China, but you are getting more and more nervous. We had simulation tests for “gaokao” in every month. Each time the results are announced, it is quite stressful. But it cultivates our strong nerve. To this, I want to say “hehe”, which, in nowadays China, means a sarcastic response out of frustration or something.

In all, taking “gaokao” test is a life experience. But whether it’s good or bad, it depends on each person. As for me, I find it meaningless and a waste of time, yet it still gives me a strong background in mathematics and physics. This is my description of “gaokao”. The data provided above are all open data and they are authentic.