Think American College Entrance is Stressful? Check out China’s College Entrance Exam!

China’s National College Entrance Exam, or “gaokao” test consumes the lives of every Chinese student – and their families – from elementary to high school.  This single test will determine whether or not the students will get into the top universities in China, which translates to having a life of financial success and marriage prospects.  Wow. 

The competition is so fierce that as few as one in 50,000 students get into the most sought-after colleges.  Hoping to give their children, and themselves a better chance at success, parents force their children to work with tutors, take extra classes, refrain from doing sports, and stop socializing with friends. Some parents even succumb to cheating.  Yup!

With high-stakes competition, parents have sent their children into the tests with devices to transmit questions and receive answers hidden in jewelry, glasses, pens, and even underwear. It has become such a problem that the government deploys drones over school buildings to scan for incoming or outgoing radio signals.  This is not without precedent – the Chinese imperial civil service exam that was in place for 1,300 years (605 – 1901) had a similar importance on the course of a person’s life, and test takers went to similar lengths to make sure they passed the test.  When someone’s future is decided by a single test, it’s no surprise that the system will be fraught with all kinds of problems.  

What’s worse is that the students equate the gaokao test score with self worth. The students internalize so much pressure to do well on this test that they suffer from depression.  One of my clients told me that he started smoking cigarettes when he was 10 years old, and drinking when he was 12. 93% of teen suicides takes place around the build up to the gaokao test date. Being an only child whose parents have invested funds and time into helping them succeed, sets up ridiculous guilt and fear of parental disappointment if they don’t score high on the exam.