For most students, the semester ended the first week or so of January . . . the exact date depended upon their exam schedule. However, for a certain group of students, the semester continued for a week.
The university education system in China is based on an all-important test score on the college entrance exam, Gao Kao. Gao Kao (literally, "tall test") is taken by every high school senior, usually the first week of June. The last three years of high school are spent in preparation for this test.
By the time a student is a senior, he/she already knows generally what score he/she will make on the test. Yes, there may be some variation on the exact score, but overall, the practice tests, etc. show what their scores will be.
A student will choose their university based on their anticipated score. Different universities have different score requirements. Different majors within the same university have different score requirements. A student picks their university BEFORE they take the exam and if they don't actually score high enough to get into their choice, then they have to wait a year to take the test again!
For specialized majors such as music or physical education, a student also has to "audition" for that department, as well as have scores sent in. We live next to the music college of our university and this week, hundreds of students tried out for openings in the department. Each day, hundreds of students anxiously waited for their turn.
They will receive a preliminary acceptance based on their audition (or a flat-out rejection), followed by their gao kao in June. If their gao kao scores are high enough, they will then start as freshmen in September.
Sound simple, but it's not. It's a pretty complicated process!
0 comments:
Post a Comment