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Overseas study ends pain of National Exam
Source: Xinhua |
June 9, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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AS millions of her peers rose early to do last-minute cramming for China's national college entrance exam on Monday, Yu Lu was sleeping soundly, as she has been every morning for the last three months.
In March, the 18-year-old high school graduate from Yantai City of Shandong Province decided not to sit the exam, long regarded as a destiny-shaping milestone in the lives of young Chinese. She had obtained offers from four universities in the United States.
"I chose the University of Washington. It will offer me a scholarship totaling more than US$40,000 if I study architecture there in the next four years," Yu said.
She achieved 29 points in the ACT (American College Test, full mark 36) in December 2009 after five months' English training in the GAC (Global Assessment Certificate) at the ACT Center in Qingdao City, Shandong.
Studying in the US would cost a total of US$120,000, most of which would be funded by her parents. Yu believed a degree from a reputable foreign university will help clinch a good job in a tight employment market.
Wang Luxue, another high school graduate in northeast China's Liaoning Province, also favors a foreign university. "I targeted overseas schools because they pay more attention to students' all-around development and provide a more flexible learning environment," Wang says.
After being enrolled at Germany's Jacobs University in Bremen with a full scholarship in February, Wang has spent much of her time learning German and life skills, such as driving and cooking, while her peers were preparing for the college entrance exam.
According to the Ministry of Education, about 9.57 million people registered to sit the national exam this year, 650,000 fewer than last year and a plunge of 930,000 people from the peak of 2008. This year's examinees will have wider access to higher education as they will compete for 6.57 million places in China's universities and colleges, with the enrollment rate up 7 percent year on year.
"US universities allow the applicants to submit the best SAT scores. But in China's college entrance exam, the loss of one point will keep you outside your dream school," Wang said.
Besides a wider selection of leading universities abroad and the prospects of a better education, the greatly improved financial situation of the average Chinese family had made study abroad more affordable, said Hui Youcheng, head of the Chicago International English Institute, based in Shenyang.
"It's hard to imagine so many students abandoning the gaokao(ital) when I was in high school. For most of us, a good performance in the national college entrance exam meant a bright future," said Li Bing.
Li, who graduated with a double bachelor degree in law and computer science at the Beijing University of Technology in 2004, spent four years working his way through jobs in high-tech and IT companies before landing his "dream job" selling advertising for Google.
"Hard as I worked, Tsinghua remained a remote dream for me," Li lamented, although he was one of the best at his school in Shandong. "If I had an MBA degree from a leading US university, I could've got into my dream job several years ago."
In March, the 18-year-old high school graduate from Yantai City of Shandong Province decided not to sit the exam, long regarded as a destiny-shaping milestone in the lives of young Chinese. She had obtained offers from four universities in the United States.
"I chose the University of Washington. It will offer me a scholarship totaling more than US$40,000 if I study architecture there in the next four years," Yu said.
She achieved 29 points in the ACT (American College Test, full mark 36) in December 2009 after five months' English training in the GAC (Global Assessment Certificate) at the ACT Center in Qingdao City, Shandong.
Studying in the US would cost a total of US$120,000, most of which would be funded by her parents. Yu believed a degree from a reputable foreign university will help clinch a good job in a tight employment market.
Wang Luxue, another high school graduate in northeast China's Liaoning Province, also favors a foreign university. "I targeted overseas schools because they pay more attention to students' all-around development and provide a more flexible learning environment," Wang says.
After being enrolled at Germany's Jacobs University in Bremen with a full scholarship in February, Wang has spent much of her time learning German and life skills, such as driving and cooking, while her peers were preparing for the college entrance exam.
According to the Ministry of Education, about 9.57 million people registered to sit the national exam this year, 650,000 fewer than last year and a plunge of 930,000 people from the peak of 2008. This year's examinees will have wider access to higher education as they will compete for 6.57 million places in China's universities and colleges, with the enrollment rate up 7 percent year on year.
"US universities allow the applicants to submit the best SAT scores. But in China's college entrance exam, the loss of one point will keep you outside your dream school," Wang said.
Besides a wider selection of leading universities abroad and the prospects of a better education, the greatly improved financial situation of the average Chinese family had made study abroad more affordable, said Hui Youcheng, head of the Chicago International English Institute, based in Shenyang.
"It's hard to imagine so many students abandoning the gaokao(ital) when I was in high school. For most of us, a good performance in the national college entrance exam meant a bright future," said Li Bing.
Li, who graduated with a double bachelor degree in law and computer science at the Beijing University of Technology in 2004, spent four years working his way through jobs in high-tech and IT companies before landing his "dream job" selling advertising for Google.
"Hard as I worked, Tsinghua remained a remote dream for me," Li lamented, although he was one of the best at his school in Shandong. "If I had an MBA degree from a leading US university, I could've got into my dream job several years ago."
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