The Hardest Test in China

[@cy9987]

My dad, a 50-year-old oncologist, told me he still occasionally had nightmares about failing the Gaokao..

[@amad980]

imagine studying for 16 hours a day and then being deemed a failure by everyone around you...

[@conradkai9705]

I think I would too

[@zhijianjiang7359]

PTSD..

[@الحمدلله-ه3ع5ل]

kzbin.info/door/I_Py_3mShSDQqv2sRxJzRg

[@backyardaviator2920]

But hey you guys are lucky to have these kinds of tests,here in PH,most of them just gets passed whether theyre skilled enough or not

[@ashaazsy3467]

I'm scared of failing the gaokao and I'm not even Chinese

[@INNOPID]

Here in India, for some sort of same exam, my teachers ask me to enjoy reading and working, which some people just can't do(the subject might or might not be related with the job we do, for example Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google studied Metallurgy at IIT, but look at his job rn)

[@steadyzz2371]

@@INNOPID its worse in turkey. We have a gigantic exam in 8th grade that you start preparing from 5th grade. Right after you do that you have a bigger one in high school

[@INNOPID]

@@steadyzz2371 That's kinda pressuring at a very young age

[@steadyzz2371]

@@INNOPID yes I’m aware. You have to solve 300 questions a day and repeat all subjects. You don’t even have time to eat

[@eviananordinaryweirdo]

@@kevwjin ikr, I'm Chinese-_-

[@ericwang7959]

My father was able to go to a university by being the 8th of the 8 students that scored high enough in his school in Gaokao, became an engineer and moved to one of the tier 1 city in China. My uncle (my father's brother) did not make the cut and eventually became a worker in the local factory, in a small town in rural China. We went back to visit them from time to time, and the quality of life is literally night and day. They are the living proof that Gaokao can either make or break a person, and why people value it so much.

[@steveronese]

U are incredibly lucky. I could not imagine being the son of a factory worker

[@Tokito935]

@@steveronese what's wrong with that?

[@usmanyounas5181]

@@Tokito935 Not much pay and u know money is everything is this world

[@yousof8546]

@@usmanyounas5181 what a flawed way to look at life

[@RdyToMingle]

@@yousof8546 money isn't everything but it makes most aspects of life easier.

[@_simon.s_]

Now I understand why students went so far as to rip their textbooks and throw it out the window before the exam. Gaokao is no joke.

[@sorrychangedmyusername3594]

And then they forgot about it after adulthood.

[@bluehotdog2610]

But the thing is that once they are in university, Chinese students have it easy. In the western world, schooling before university is easy and university itself is extremely hard.

[@SoybeanInTheMilk]

@@bluehotdog2610 what relevance is had

[@memory.1]

@@bluehotdog2610 as someone who has done gaokao for undergrad, and applied admission for grad in UK/US, i can vouch for how university in east asia vs western world is as different as night and day.

[@bluehotdog2610]

@@memory.1 Would you say university in the west is harder than in east asia?

[@melvinmathew4171]

Almost all Asian countries have such systems, it is one of the only method for upward social mobility, the Japanese and South Koreans have their super intensive cram schools, the Indians have Kota,...........

[@xygdra]

Yeah, but the sheer number of students and class level is totally on different scale. China/India vs the rest of Asia.

[@Rishabh_Raj.]

@@xygdra I totally agree with you But I think it should be INDIA/CHINA Vs Rest of the world..🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@Emilechen]

the system is invented by Chinese during Sui Dynasty, in about 600 BC, called Keju,

[@gustavoc5974]

Brazil has this style too And it has a very similar industry aroud it as the video showed

[@passerby4507]

@@Emilechen no it's not, they're utterly and completely different things.

[@KersheckStudios]

When I asked my parents why they emigrated to Canada one of their top reasons was so I wouldn’t have to take the gaokao 🙏🏼

[@syzikiy4450]

*Immigrated

[@canadaehxplained77]

@@syzikiy4450 Emigrate means 'to leave one's own country permanently' - no correction needed.

[@yuvanishm5167]

@@canadaehxplained77 Emigrate from china. Immigrate to Canada

[@dr.woozie7500]

Username fits

[@ArthurRTK]

Gaokao is not that hard. The problem is, you can't take it easily since you can't fail. It's all or nothing.

[@KaitiansCountryballs]

Hardest tests around the world China: Gaokao India: College entrance exam UK: Citizenship Test

[@ToastieBRRRN]

Good Joke

[@tumbo9377]

Tosser

[@Krish_krish]

You fokin wat mate

[@just_a_curious_thinker]

But, Entrance exams in india don't care about your talent, they rather care about our *category* 😔 I remember some students who have around 90-110 marks in JEE were placed above 180 marks of mine because they belonged to *SC, ST, VJ, SBC* etc. If you belong to *OPEN* caste you are already screwed. I want to suggest the Government that this is not same india as it had been during independence when reservations were put forth. Nowadays the situations are totally different. Almost 50% people of Lower categories belong to middle-class like OPEN ones. So, why is there still such a difference??😕 Also, many OPEN students like me belong to below average economic status. What about them ?? Rather the reservation should only be based on Economic status. Also, poor people must be provided 100% exemption from fees but they should not be given relaxation in marks. Admission on basis of marks should be fair & equal for everyone. Reservation should only provide fee exemption for students with poor economic status. (PS :- No Political party will ever stop reservation system because they like to *Divide & rule* people. The category system is not for benefits of poor, but for the benefits of politicians.)

[@rexontyrone8141]

@@just_a_curious_thinker Damm bro that's rough. U know things aren't too different in Pakistan

[@charlesren8377]

My dad's gaokao result sent him to one of the best major (chem engineering) in the best uni (qinghua) from the hardest province (jiangsu) and just imagine the stress me and my brother got. My brother went to wuhan university which is already most students' dream but my dad was a bit disappointed. At age of 17 i chose to not do gaokao and went abroad, eventually got admitted by a medical school in Australia. My dad said:“not bad” lol

[@bjap1563]

Not to mock you but I just remember a scene in Family guy. Dad:"You Doctor yet!" Son:"Dad! I'm 10!" Dad:"Talk to me when you're Doctor!" *Dad Slams Door.*

[@asdfghjkl12349]

My dad was from a poor rural area, but his gaokao also sent him to qing hua

[@lily.liuller8825]

Omg,seemingly the whole family are straight-A students😂

[@verballyconstipated]

holy frick tsinghua

[@charlesren8377]

@@lily.liuller8825 not really. My grade was below average before med school and i couldnt figure out why that med school decided to take me. Well now im working on becoming a neurosurgeron, trying to forgive my younger self for not working as hard as my dad lmao

[@yunyao3182]

The gaokao itself was not that hard for me, but everything around me was nightmares. Before entering high school, I was doing well in the volleyball team, chorus, Olympic math and physics, I was confident and optimistic. But in high school, nobody cared if I had passions, if I had good characters or anything, they only valued you by your mark and rank. My mom didn't let me eat nice food or buy anything just because she expected me to rank 50/1000 however I only ranked 70/1000... We had 2 hours break at noon for lunch and sleep, however, everyone in the dorm studied and discussed, which made me unable to sleep. My roommates didn't feel guilty, they judged me for not studying instead. I became sensitive, negative and introvert. But fortunately, I did it. After gaokao, I felt loss and extremely tired, I didn't feel like to do anything, I lay on my bed for a month and a half, no talking, no eating, no phones, just drinking water, dazing and sleeping. I lost 15kg during that time. After that, I suddenly became normal, shopping, singing, playing games like a normal person. It sounds strange, but yes, everything about gaokao looks like have never happened to me, it is like a long long dream, or, a nightmare.

[@hochigaming14yearsago90]

Damn. Just damn.

[@vitas75]

You don't become introverted. People are born either introverted or extroverted. It is hereditary and can only be slightly affected early on in life, when your personality is still developing.

[@Lucas-sk5iy]

@@vitas75 Lmao you're a good example of someone who wants to sound smart but has no idea what they're talking about; introversion/extroversion is not a binary. People are not one or the other, and their tendency towards behaviors that could be described in terms of introversion/extroversion are dependent on a variety of factors, the most important of which is the context of the social circumstance.

[@atticuskoch2965]

@@vitas75 If all you're taking away from what they said is "oh, they're not a TRUE introvert", then you aren't paying attention to what they're saying. Staying in bed for a month and losing 15 kg is indicative of a major depressive episode. In that case it doesn't matter whether a person is an introvert or an extrovert, functioning can be extremely difficult and draining, let alone interacting with other people. You really dont know what you're talking about

[@m.moonsie]

@@vitas75 You sound smart, but actually are not. Sad

[@RabbitLLLord]

GaoKao is indeed the worst nightmare I’ve ever had in my whole life. MaoTanChang is only an example of this kind of institutions in China, and its students are only an example of all the Chinese students facing GaoKao. Sometimes when I slept, I dreamed that I went back to my high school, sitting there, worrying about how to prepare for GaoKao. That kind of nervous and depressed feeling suddenly went back to me and I roused from sleep. I hate this exam since this exam was supposed to serve as a way for poor family to increase their social mobility, but it can be seen that, if without proper change, this exam will fail to serve this purpose. No matter how hard students in MaoTanChang study, the average number of students going to Tier 1 and 2 universities is still relatively low compared to the average number of students in a good high school in Beijing. You will find that it is not how hard you study that decides your performance in GaoKao, but your overall quality, like your family education, your study environment, the number of good universities in your cities (this is essential, Beijing students are way easier to get into 985 or 211 universities than students in other provinces), so it turned out that it depends on your parents income level, education level, your cities, etc. Overall, GaoKao has become really hard so that only studying hard for 3 years in your high school is not enough, you need to have a good parents and family that raise you wisely, which is less likely to happen for poor students. Therefore, this exam is becoming more and more good-family friendly and thus from helping poor people, it becomes to a tool for people with higher social hierarchy to stabilize their positions. Also, like me, if I cannot do good in GaoKao, my family is good enough to send me to US for a good university, which cannot happen in the case of poor family. So, GaoKao doesn’t hurt any rich family. However, there seems no solution to this problem. China needs a way that at least looks like creating a path for everyone, otherwise those 1billion famers and workers will have their children no education which means that they don’t have hope and thus will create chaos to this society. It is changing, seems like China now is promoting “tire 4” schools, more like professional schools, teaching you cook, haircut, etc, so that you can find a job after college. After all, going to any universities that lower than 211 level, basically will not find you any job. (I am not an native speaker so please ignore my grammar mistake, I just wanna say that GaoKao is a really terrible choice that China has to make, and without an economy as strong as US or equivalent western economic body, finding a better solution is not really feasible)

[@thepowerisyetunknown7710]

Your comment was really insightful, thanks! I'm sorry to hear that is the case there

[@RaulServers]

Bugs me the way China with it's centralized power can build anything they want, why not build more universities? with so much money on the table, it could build like 5 universities per year at least, it's so sad to see young peoples almost entire teenage year get mentally destroyed by one exam

[@RabbitLLLord]

@@RaulServers yes, you are right. There was a time that Chinese central government built universities for each province. I don’t know the reason but the central government talked to each province and asked if they wanted to build universities. Some province said no, they wanted to build more shopping malls, financial area, etc (this plan failed but they also missed the chance to build university). A typical province is HeNan, it does not have any good university within the area and thus all of these students need to get out of the province to find a good university. This kind of “get out” require higher score. For examples, it need approximately 660 (which is around 15% percentile in Beijing) to get in Beijing Normal University for Beijing student, but perhaps only the firstly 1% percentile (I think it is actually worse than this) in HeNan can get in the same university. I am not sure why China stopped building university, I guess this relates to something deeper, like the overall country development plan, politics, money, corruption, and so on

[@RabbitLLLord]

@@thepowerisyetunknown7710 thank you :)

[@briancheng8243]

@@RabbitLLLord 你的英文非常棒，不要道歉！

[@IanChristopher]

The hardest test is the blood test I never get an A

[@naaso1132]

Ian Christopher 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@mauz791]

I've seen some people get A and B at the same time, such a typo 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@Barsik-M]

I don't know I always get an A somehow

[@jcxkzhgco3050]

I get an O always I guess it’s okay

[@elaowczarczyk7143]

I keep getting B- it sucks

[@benchen3250]

One of the reasons my mum ended up selling everything she had in China and taking me with her overseas before I started my high school was due to Gaokao. Instead of trying my hardest to shoot for Tsinghua and PKU, I settled for a decent university near me, who gave me a generous scholarship. Some times I wonder if I would have been more self-disciplined and end up in a better place if I went through the Gaokao process. At the end of the day, I understand why this testing system exists, and know that I am definitely privileged to have a mother that cares about my well-being and can actually afford it. I truly feel for my Chinese brothers and sisters and as this year's Gaokao nears, I wish all of you the best of luck! 祝大家高考顺利，中一本进清北！

[@Lucas-sk5iy]

Where overseas did you end up getting your high school education?

[@Pxlarizar]

@@Lucas-sk5iy prolly england. his linguistical pattern says so

[@eclecticsoffy]

As someone who learns Chinese, I feel ashamed for not understanding that last sentence. If someone can translate it, please. I can only get home, Gaokao, middle.

[@gengzhuotan1674]

@@eclecticsoffy wishing every student in China getting a decent score, and going to top school (that part of Chinese is something like this)

[@eclecticsoffy]

@@gengzhuotan1674 Thanks a bunch

[@WalkandSki]

I am from a normal Chinese family. 3 years after my Gaokao. I still woke up through intensive test nightmares. However, everything seems so easy after that...

[@theq1621]

How's ur life after Gaokao?

[@WalkandSki]

@@theq1621 felt empty the first month. Then went abroad started another round of study. But much easier after all that.

[@nulnoh219]

When you start at Hardcore mode... Everywhere else becomes easy mode....

[@midnighteclipsed2738]

@@nulnoh219 agree

[@jameshunk7211]

China banned KZbin. CCP members will want to talk to you soon

[@janie9355]

Imagine getting a 700+ score if you guessed on all the multiple choice questions

[@rageleague188]

There’s barely any multiple choice questions.

[@ryantheredzombie6124]

@@rageleague188 makes sense

[@organicallymaz]

There's more than 120 in total (mostly in english) spread across 6 subjects, good luck! Also it's impossible, even if you guessed it all right, the most you'll get in score is only around 400-500

[@Designed1]

Maybe Dream can do it

[@张世钦-f6y]

@@rageleague188 Yes there are.For Math and Physics,which counts around 50 points (meant a lot in the test,you can surpass about 210000 students by 1 point)

[@kaelhasturn]

I went to Canada for college just to skip this lmao

[@arpandas411]

Good choice. 👍🏼👌

[@naaso1132]

Good choice.

[@文渐]

Your choice needs money, and a large number of people without money in China can't be like you

[@valorzinski7423]

@@文渐 They can go go Germany where universities are free for all foreigners and citizens alike

[@shiluliu7780]

@@valorzinski7423 It is like asking people who are starving, why not eat meat.

[@periodictable118]

Back when I was 5 years old, my parents debated on whether or not to come to Canada, and in the end they decided to drop everything and come to Canada with a blank slate, not even knowing how to really speak English... But looking back words cannot describe how thankful I am for them making the decision to come here. Just for perspective, my both my parents had very wealthy jobs in the provincial government in the area we lived in China, and after coming to Canada, we lived below the poverty line for many years. But it was totally worth it in my (and my parent's) point of view. Having rich parents and money doesn't mean bulls**t if you have to be studying 10+ hours a day just to have a chance at getting into university. (Or, in my parents perspective, if I got mental health issues and stuff like that) At least in Canada I had the time to hang out, relax, learn life skills, and find myself, even if we didn't have much money or material goods. The change in life, for me at least, was priceless, now that I look back in hindsight. Edit: I should pick my words more carefully- we weren't overly rich, like we had enough to have a house and everything but we weren't like millionares or anything. It was just a lot more than what we had when we came to Canada.

[@skepity9676]

how are you guys doing right now?

[@eclecticsoffy]

I hope you're doing great rn

[@trollmcclure2659]

Anti-Asian racism in North America can be a lot more damaging to mental health especially today, your case doesn't make as much sense because your parents had very high paid jobs in China, so you didn't have to study as hard as children from poor families like in the video to rise up in the social ladder

[@periodictable118]

@@trollmcclure2659 I shouldn't say very high-paying, I should say something more like mid-upper middle class since they didn't have positions of power in the government. (But it was very high paying compared to what we have now here). We didn't have anywhere near enough to be able to bribe teachers or anything to allow me to study less than anyone else, and as for anti-Asian racism yeah that is a problem here especially since covid19 started, but so far I've been lucky enough to have experienced little to none of it in the people I interact with commonly, like at school and the community.

[@mathboydrum]

@@trollmcclure2659 lmao not even close

[@리주민]

Finland is like: 😳 we'll just get rid of testing in general

[@flavioardizio7242]

Wait for real ?

[@odis6397]

Bump, what?

[@aknowleadge4787]

And homework is nearly never given. What a heaven on Earth.

[@MoonLäden]

What do you mean?

[@cream0995]

And that’s why they have one of the best education systems in the world

[@ycloud443]

I am a Chinese person and my senior high school would run from 7:20am to 10:30pm, Monday to Saturday. And I still had to do some homework after I got home at 11:00pm. And we had weekly tests. After each test your marks, rank in your class and in the grade would be sent to your parents. It was extremely depressing. I am so happy that I live in the West now and I really enjoy the life I am living right now! There's just too many people in Asia but not enough education resources. And here if you do not get into a decent university, your life is screwed. On the other hand, for poor people, getting into a good university is the only way to lift their entire family out of poverty. So most people have to fight like a starved wolf for education resources. But there is one thing good about this system --- poor people can have an opportunity to compete with the rich and to improve their conditions by working hard to get into a good university.

[@abrararifify]

I'm honestly happy for you. Pardon my french, but this "merit" stuff is complete bullshit. The entire purpose is to make students mindless souls not capable of their own free thinking. That's why these systems exist, especially in Asia.

[@RAMBO14001]

While you might feel oppressed towards your strict homeland regulations, but it's exactly that hardwork that drove China to become what it is today... And will probably be the #1 leading force of the world in the near future. Then you'll regret leaving to the West where they discriminate Asians on daily bases while they sit on their asses doing nothing.

[@Dorgpoop]

I've known a lot of people that really struggle with the burden of exams in the west so I can't imagine how bad it would be in China. There's a few things that education should do, and while I guess the Chinese system is probably relatively good at encouraging diligence, it doesn't sound like it teaches people to enjoy learning or to think critically which is by far the most important skill that you leave school with.

[@ycloud443]

@@Dorgpoop I guess the designer of this system never really hoped to encourage any critical thinking. The main purpose of this system is to give ordinary people an opportunity to compete with the rich and to improve their living conditions by getting into a good uni.

[@Dorgpoop]

@@ycloud443 That's the positive view of it I guess, that it's so standardised that anyone can try it and use their good score to move up on society. But I think the person designed it also probably wasn't too keen on teaching critical thinking, because the current version was developed after the cultural Revolution and all the chaos that Mao and radical youngsters in the red guard caused.

[@yl7806]

The test itself is not hard. The hard thing is to manage the anxiety. When you are told that this one test would make or break you, and your whole family, you start to have nightmares about 1 million things that could go wrong. I took Gaokao 18 years ago. I had an emotional breakdown 5 days before Gaokao around 2 am because I was too anxious to go to sleep. My mom put in sedatives into the mix of supplements I took every day, including the 3 Gaokao days. It's a decision she made herself, and she didn't tell me and the rest of the family until much later after. I felt 60% of myself. I felt a disconnect with the group anxiety for these few days. I did well in the test and got accepted by my dream university. However, I have to say that my classmates who failed Gaokao are doing well now, sometimes, much better than I do in terms of making money, rightfully so.

[@funkysagancat3295]

yeah, we have a similiar system in brazil and normally people who went to university but didn't liked the major they choosed do a lot better on the second time they take the exam even with a lot less preparation, after facing it face to face it starts to get less scaring

[@HappyMerchant]

Could you specify about those that failed Gaokao and are more successful?

[@Exodia.57]

We have the same system in Turkey both for highschools and universities I also had a breakdown at midnight 8 hours before the exam I still did well but man that stress made me age 5 years in a single year

[@faker530]

exactly ,I have a test (not the gaokao)that will basically decide which college I will go to .My parents try not to show how concerened and scared they are but I can tell easily.I have been considered gifted during my early childhood so the expectations are as high as they can get .I have never felt so pressed , lost in my life.I lost interest in my studies but I have to do it anyway .my test is in 3 weeks

[@melodyxie5889]

@@HappyMerchant Jack Ma took gaokao three times and get only 1 point in math at the first time😂😂

[@stg-tf4ns]

For anyone that doesn't know how important the Gaokao is, apart from measures mentioned in the video, the local police force will be sent out to conduct special traffic arrangements, escort school buses that bring candidates to test venues, occasionally even picking up candidates that face difficulties in arriving at the venue on time; the venues are often guarded by swat teams, while the exam papers themselves are classified as top-secret documents until the beginning of the exam, being printed and sealed in prisons, and being escorted by Armed Police Force members, which are effectively the military.

[@richcast66]

I assumed it was that serious when the video claimed that nobody was allowed to even honk their horns on test day, or else probably face fines

[@furiousdestroyah9999]

Yikes. Just disgusting

[@shreyangshumodak8923]

@@furiousdestroyah9999 what's wrong with that?

[@furiousdestroyah9999]

@@shreyangshumodak8923 It's blown out of proportion. It shouldn't be even a fraction as important as it actually is

[@shreyangshumodak8923]

@@furiousdestroyah9999 shows why western students are below average in science degrees even when they have multiple times better school infrastructure than asian countries

[@masterimbecile]

We have a saying in Chinese about these kinds of test: 一試定江山 (yi1 shi4 ding4 jiang1 shan1). Literally it says "one test determines river mountain", but it translates to "one test to determine your fate". Unfortunately student suicide rates skyrocket around these times. You can almost count on hearing about a rash of students hanging themselves or jumping from a window after the test.

[@aenigmatrices]

One exam to rule them all.

[@johnl.7754]

Actually I think the Gaokao is the best solution for China because otherwise there will be more suspicions of corruption on which teachers gave which students high grades or good recommendations. Students/parents are already giving gifts now on holidays.

[@dairyprods]

@@johnl.7754 idk where you live but pretty much all "recommendation letters" at the school I go to in the US are all rants about how crappy the student is. expect more vicious rants from public schools recommending students to private schools. sorting through these recc letters they basically pick out the student with the least crap against them.

[@johnl.7754]

@@dairyprods I’m from Los Angeles but parents from Taiwan. Never got a recommendation letter since went to a so so college in Southern California.

[@dairyprods]

@@johnl.7754 really, i needed one for middle school

[@niu9994]

I got 633 points in 2016 in Sichuan Province. I ranked around 5000 among 570k students which means I was around top 1%, and I got accepted into a university ranking 30 in China. There were about 200 students who have the exact same score with me(633), so for every failure for a multiple choice(5 points), I may be beaten by more than 1000 students in my province.

[@aL-ys1ze]

That's so scary but I'm glad you were able to get a good result! Congrats!

[@frydfish4934]

I'm getting scared just thinking about this test that I'll never take.

[@jouska9819]

Asian parents grading system A = acceptable B = beating C = can’t have dinner D = don’t come home F = find a new family

[@zero5496]

more like c= go live on street, and d= change your surname, f= i don't know you, I almost lived on the street for having straight c, and until now I still feel like every day I got is like the last day of my life

[@sorrychangedmyusername3594]

A = Acceptable B = Suicide and start over C = Suicide and start over D = Suicide and start over F = You must be a special kind to fuck this up badly.

[@sorrychangedmyusername3594]

A = Acceptable B = Suicide and start over C = Suicide and start over D = Suicide and start over F = You must be a special kind to fuck this up badly.

[@dq9832]

why do i feel like getting a C is worst then getting a B

[@zero5496]

@@dq9832 cuz for Asian parent getting A meaning its a C, high standards

[@BuckBuckle]

It's interesting how this goes against pretty much everything known to science about how the brain learning works. 16 hours of studying might seem like a good idea on a very basic and assumptive level, but the brain desperately needs time to learn new neural pathways and "build" memories and understanding of new concepts. In a practical sense studying more than 40 concurrent minutes is counter-productive as the brain starts to conserve energy by "filtering away" earlier impressions which are then relegated to short-term memory. This is why you take periodic 20-30 minute breaks, and more than 4 hours of learning in a day doesn't actually amount to any better understanding. This sort of learning would only potentially work when a person is between the ages of 4-6 and neuroplasticity is at its peak. As you get older your brain desperately needs that down-time to truly develop in a pure physical sense.

[@zacwoods]

Because a lot of “known science” isnt actually 100% known.

[@furkanozdemir2302]

Exactly!

[@Arkanthrall]

They don't study to acquire knowledge or to get smart, they just cram for an exam so it might work for them. Still an awful waste of time.

[@doryphoros1234]

Each lecture takes 40-45min, with 10min leisure afterwards. After 4-5 lecures, there is lunch break or dinner break for 1 hour.

[@mahirmahir7097]

In the education system of most of the Asian countries. You don't need to understand anything. If you study by understanding the topic you will fail in the exams. All you have to do is just memorise mindlessly. If you are good at memorising you will pass the exams. In Asian countries, the uneducated ( in the terms of not having a certificate) get successful. For example, look at Jack Ma from China. He is better than most top tier Chinese students. Even he said some about how bad the education systems are.

[@bhaskargoyal2273]

Hats off to the creator for the amount of research done in this video. Hardly anyone mentions the fact that in densely populated asian countries exams like these are the only way for the poor kids to uplift their families out of poverty

[@bhaskargoyal2273]

I don't support exams like these but you should know the reason they are still conducted

[@briansendpie448]

It would take Chinese Universities years to decide the students to accept if they work like American ones. It is somehow inhuman but strictly fair.

[@pranavkondapalli9306]

@@bhaskargoyal2273 Not Necessarily true. You don't always get an equal opportunity for rich/poor people. Normal schools still have admission fees, and public schools rarely teach actually decently. (mostly cause ps teachers are woefully underpaid). And there are also many elite schools for those rich people to teach their kids better. So during those 'fair' tests you say, the person who never had the backbones of the subject taught to him will struggle a whole lot more than people who had the opportunity to understand the concept. Second of all, briberies to enter top college exist due to excessive corruption. Third of all, is this structure really worth it, considering it causes 1 death every 40 seconds (statistic for suicide rates globally, majority being of college students)? Is it worth the fact that it ruins people's lives or childhood? I support the cause for moving families out of poverty, but this system isn't the way to do it. Add all of this to the fact that this education system has not changed one bit for the last 100-200 years or so, and at least in India, was originally designed by the brits, which well we after independence just copy pasted, changed the narrative around a bit and that's about it. As a sidenote, im curious as to how many people have actually escaped poverty as a result of the system, and compare it to how many people committed suicide cause of the anxiety it induced

[@jerrychen6131]

My mom told me that my first word was “gao kao” when I was 2😂😂😂😂

[@SamuelSamuelSamuel1]

My first word was Munuh It’s an old term for [Kill]/[Death] In Javanese

[@finierude]

My...mine was "umbrella"

[@jonathanlionel8745]

You born for this.

[@Anonymous-_-69]

My first word was "umpf" it was an attempt to say lamp lmao

[@milkyway6021]

you were literally born for it 😂 (joke. sorry)

[@sidahe5688]

I was born in a poor family in Henan and got 671/750 in Henan in 2010, and now I am in the US. I am a beneficiary of Gaokao.

[@dannyyoung5508]

671！厉害👍！

[@Srab23]

Sounds cool! I bet you worked hard, and now you get what you deserve

[@winduslel2040]

Imagine you lived in US and you got a high score in A level but you are poor for the uni. Dude, you would be doomed. High level education is a business in the West.

[@meiryo896]

@@winduslel2040 is there no scholarship?

[@winduslel2040]

@@meiryo896 There are, but way limited, and the tuition fees+living cost there are at least 20 times higher than Chinese universities. I mean literally at least.

[@djcfb2889]

I took my Gaokao two years ago in the city of Tianjin, and my final rankings is 229th out of 70,000 contestants.

[@INNOPID]

Congrats! Was that enough to get into your dream college? I don't know about China, so....

[@mochacrossing1567]

Damn that's great

[@csfynabranch4496]

I can see that from your english

[@nine9605]

@@csfynabranch4496 LoL

[@narsplace]

@@csfynabranch4496 English.

[@narenaviation7795]

What are these channels priorities - Wendover Production - Planes PolyMatter - China HAI - Roast Real Engineering - Complex enough that we get lost

[@Otaku-gf7iq]

HAI is bricks what do you mean?

[@vtron9832]

RealLifeLore - Toyota Corolla

[@rj5848]

Trump:chaina

[@xBris]

You forgot: A Hill to Die On - Poorly researched, but sooooo juicily clickbaity you just can't resist

[@AVeryRandomPerson]

@@xBris So Christmas should start in July?

[@kevinmeng5231]

One caveat: extracurriculars are considered but in a very rigid and utilitarian way. If you play a sport, you have to win certain recognized competitions or tournaments. If you play an instrument, you have to take examinations approved by the government and get a certificate. Depending on your level of achievement, you get a boost to your Gaokao score.

[@gold9994]

You know, one of the biggest problem in Gao Kao is: A guy just got accepted in Jiao Tong, but he chooses to retake to enter Peking. Just how crazy is that, the gap between 3rd and 2nd is insane.

[@WowT-i4t]

Unfortunately, nowadays the major is far more important than university itself. In US, a student major in CS could easily earn twice over those who choose to do biology research

[@samo6401]

@@WowT-i4t i dont understand why you said unfortunately, what is unfortunate about that? C.S is more in demand and there isnt enough supply of capable developers, so it will pay more

[@NathanASanchez]

Having lived in China in several provinces, I've seen uncountable kids go through their middle and high school careers as nearly lifeless zombies with no humor. It makes me sad.

[@stevenkyle9426]

You know what is sadder? They couldn't make it to college, and only find a job in a toy factory. They work 12 hours a day and make 400 US dollars a month. They have no time or money to fall in love, let alone get married. When their parents get sick, they spend all their savings but still far from enough so they have to watch their parents die in front of them.

[@AlphaLiu]

@@stevenkyle9426 我觉得你这么说很扯淡 实际上中国多数大学毕业生都能挣到12-20万每年（25k-40k$） 我觉得啊你还是图样

[@AlphaLiu]

Zombie真的是谈不上……实际上确实会营造一种紧张气氛 这个我承认 但是至少我不会因为没有钱而上不起顶级的学校（来自2015年高考659分的某油管网友）

[@ZhangtheGreat]

It's even sadder when this becomes normalized as these kids eventually become parents themselves. A Chinese family I know here in the US basically forced their kids into this zombie lifestyle because they felt that the American system had made their kids too outgoing. Now both of them are estranged from their parents, and the parents can't understand why. I'm just fortunate I have parents who didn't normalize this.

[@stevenkyle9426]

@Domi No bullshit of course comes from bull, lol. There is a documentary called gaokao. I suggest you go watch it and you know why Chinese students work so hard

[@briansendpie448]

It’s the friendliest comment zone for Chinese people, at least everyone’s prepared to listen.

[@allftw2677]

@@thecommenter2711 its a good thing , can be a bad thing at times , but largely a good thing , there are people who are 60 years old who have nightmares from thir time being pressured for marks .

[@stephwindsor3189]

well, I failed it, but I've got no regrets. did everything I could, scored 121 in English and a total of 341.

[@mikoajh2747]

Hope you still do well in life Much love from Poland 🇵🇱

[@robmckay5700]

Your English is certainly fluent 👍🏻

[@xz1891]

341minus English = roughly zero

[@ofcoursewhynot4829]

Having done it is already a great accomplishment!

[@oscarwind4266]

Well. Probably better then I can do even if I knew Chinese.

[@americarex4461]

As an American who lived in China for 5 years... it was shocking to see how difficult the GaoKao questions were compared to US Bachelor and Master exams back home.

[@a1t168]

That's why china will overtake USA

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

See the thing is the gaokao isn't just about the exam. It's like the hunger games.

[@MrBattlestar10]

@@a1t168 at the cost of their souls.

[@mb-jade7661]

@Le Chi Bang It's happening as we speak. Unless you're blind and deaf.

[@class6aa]

It depends on what kind of University you are referring too. I have Chinese friend who went though gaokao but still struggling in math classes in my University in Canada.

[@invisibleimpostor299]

Holy shit. This is almost exactly like Kota in India for an exam called the JEE. It's like a town but filled with students and teachers. Although they have the best teachers there, it's essentially a factory.

[@aradhyasakalley]

yeah bro the similarities are insane also btw the teachers there are not the best, they are good but essentially they only teach you how to crack the exam

[@moonwolf8470]

Yea like ‘Kota factory’. Tbh that’s a good show

[@aradhyasakalley]

@@hwfq34fajw9foiffawdiufhuaiwfhw yeah bro they are just qualified to make you pass an exam

[@manswind3417]

@@aradhyasakalley Well some are actually the best, speaking from experience. But what you said is more accurate and apt.

[@Disissid19]

Sri Chaitanya Junior College would like to know your location

[@数根朽木]

this is a nightmare 这东西太难了

[@inglam]

hhhhhh hello there

[@YunyunUnion]

@@inglam general kenobi

[@ziyanyang9777]

here you are, again

[@Lumine2233]

先高考，再考研，天天折磨自己哈哈

[@兔猻-j2g]

前排

[@lkgpuanimho0349]

PolyMatter and China - Still a better love story than Twilight

[@speedy01247]

looking at his past videos, its more of an Asian thing in general, multiple of Singapore, north Korea and some others like Thailand. around 30% of his last 20 videos are not directly about an Asian nation (though some include them)

[@whosasking9655]

Wait till you hear about Wendover productions

[@Kenbow183]

I'm starting to think that whoever created these tests was secretly a sadist.

[@blankblankpog]

The test itself isnt that scary, the conditions surrounding it makes it scary.

[@Kenbow183]

@@blankblankpog True, but man the SAT and ACT testing never gave me nightmares compared to hearing what's involved in testing mentioned in this video.

[@blankblankpog]

@@Kenbow183 Maybe because we've got multiple ways to enter college and they dont. They dont have affirmative action or my father donate a building route and etc It's their do or die

[@guanzhehong3209]

It's really a complicated matter. China is just a huge country, and the sheer number of students competing for higher education each year forces the Gaokao to be hard and soul-crushing for some.. As someone who grew up in China, people around me and I despise Gaokao, but it also seems unrealistic for the country to adopt a completely different strategy in offering education resources to people.. there just are too many people in China, and too little resources...

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

It's kinda ironic considering how hard the communists tried to come up with a better system but the gaokao is basically their take on the ancient provincial examination. During the empire days, potential scholars would study the classics and all sorts of other stuff to get a chance at taking a local county exam. If they passed that, they could challenge for the province level exam. And if they excelled they would be able to challenge the imperial examination. All of this was for a shot at becoming a government official. Of course the system was very promising early on during a dynasty but as the years wore on corruption set in and exam officials could be bribed to pass a son (only men were allowed to sit the exam) and so on up to the government level. Thus the rot of corruption settles into the lower levels of government and infects the upper echelons as the officials get promoted and ultimately a purge happens or a rebellion

[@lcs.1094]

In case you didn’t notice, an old concept is now been taken seriously by Chinese now: INVOLUTION ( 内卷 ） Now days in China the concept Involution used to describe such kind of fierce competitions which generate little break throughs, while everyone struggling just to survive in a competition, wasting huge amount of energy and time, even what they do might be useless in the long term. Education system and some tech giant companies in China have the most symbolic cases of involution: it seems like a fair environment of competition but end up making everyone’s life exponentially harder overtime, and their efforts seems to be less and less efficient as they work/ study. Of course it’s not only in Asia, but involution is extremely serious in China and you can feel it almost everywhere. In early stages this can motivate a society to release its potential, which also boosted China’s economy when the demographic dividend was still enough, but soon it becomes a dead loop trapping everyone inside, decreasing the productivity growth per capita. I hope you can make an introduction of this concept Involution in a future video. This explains many problems China (as well as most of industrial countries in Asia) is facing. Oh, and Thanks for your analysis in this video. You’re doing great Polymatter.

[@liliya_aseeva]

Isn't that an 'enthropy'?

[@lcs.1094]

@@liliya_aseeva not really the same, entropy is more about the energy source is depleting, while involution is more about accelerating competition.

[@derrheat154]

That is something I noticed too as an ABC. My parents wasted many years learning how to do high school math and literature at an unreasonably high level to do well on the gao kao. With that much effort one can probably get a bachelors degree in engineering easily. Imagine how much better china would be if that energy was spent on economic productivity versus social advancement

[@吴文安]

内卷的本质很简单，人口太多，好岗位太少。 所以这也是为什么中国要发展高端产业之一。 不过这动了美国人的蛋糕

[@nimgee1343]

I prepared for Gaokao before I was admitted to college through foreign langauge specialty recommendation (外语类特长生保送). I am now in my 30s. Although I have never actually taken part in Gaokao, I sometimes had dreams about failing it.

[@Propapanda0213]

害，证明了学好英语的重要性😂

[@喵队长]

外语好也可以保送么？

[@llounfox9290]

}#%}# I definitely understand

[@lkong6035]

@@喵队长 只有全国十三所外国语高中有资格，并且大学也是指定学校指定专业。

[@穆昱蕊]

保送生+1 lol

[@terrycheung8277]

Nothing to brag, but I got 433rd out of 350,000 students in my hometown province, sort of top 0.1%. I can still feel the traumatic stress now just to think about those days I’ve been through preparing for the exam, countless nightmares, literally. Right now living comfortably in the US with high 6 figures annual income. It can be safely conclude that GaoKao is THE single most difficult exam on planet earth, if you can make through it, you can make it everywhere.

[@frogg8319]

Asian Son: “I got a B” Asian Dad: “Your grade reflects your future job, and you are *A* sian not *B* sian”

[@mooshiros7053]

Steven he said it way better

[@lancetheking7524]

Guess I'm a *F* ilipino

[@melon4738]

Guess I’m an A sian A merican C?

[@prince_yt3406]

@@lancetheking7524 Philippines are in A*sian

[@lancetheking7524]

@@prince_yt3406 you missed the- ok

[@raindear7309]

A note to indians here: Yes the JEE test is very hard but it is not compulsory to take the exam its only compulsory if you want to enter the college but GaoKao is compulsory in China. So don't get mixed up with it because some people that knows nothing about this actually thinks that JEE is a compulsory exam in india.

[@honghaowu3747]

Gaokao is not compulsory. It is simply a common choice for higher education. Students who want to work right after high school don't have to take it.

[@dengist8172]

No. Many in China don't take it

[@gauthamgopinadh9121]

@@honghaowu3747 by compulsory what he meant is that it is compulsory to write the exam to get into a college. In India however, you can get into several hundred colleges without writing jee

[@herp_derpingson]

@@gauthamgopinadh9121 Colleges have their own variant of JEE

[@sirantisocial9681]

All of the Engineering/Medical colleges only accept JEE/NEET marks, so yeah you got to wite it if you wanna enter a college be it a tier 3 college also similar to those high schools in China, similar coaching institutes are present here in India too. Education is overly Industrialised in both countries.

[@thesudaneseprince9675]

The idea of a system like that scares me to my core. I can't imagine the kind of pressure that places on child, to know that the future of your family rides on such an difficult test. makes me nervous just thinking about it.

[@0xszander0]

Inhumane robot-human factories. The CCP is much closer to nazi germany than many people seem to think.

[@thesudaneseprince9675]

@@0xszander0 The oppression in Xinjiang, also deeply concerns me. It's that kind of systemic organised opression of a people by a powerful state, that seems so similar to the tragedy of the Holocaust. We must not let it continue, we did say never again.

[@IchiroSakamoto]

@@0xszander0 lmao how is it CCP’s fault that students who wants to get into elite institutions, needs to study hard, which is the case in every single country including Japan, Korea and Singapore. Just hating on China because you ate a shitloads of propaganda for breakfast and wants to to find a place to puke out ignorance and hatred

[@sskspartan]

@@0xszander0 f*ck you, it's pure USSR, Germany was never as inhumane to its own citizens, even if it was to jews and foreigners

[@irek1394]

@@IchiroSakamoto yet somehow similar systems work better in other places...

[@2zazzy]

Considering the fact that I can’t study for an hour without losing focus , this would be literally hell if I had to go through this

[@johnboberoo7590]

Same, I can't even pay attention in school for more than 15 minutes and get distracted very easily.

[@Plankton1205]

There is one serious point missed here. The difficulty is now different in province, so as the admission score. Test questions for Beijing students are incredibly simple compared to some provinces like Zhejiang, while Beijing students can still even admitted to universities with lower scores than Zhejiang.

[@XOPOIIIO]

No town is boring unless the Internet is completely blocked.

[@RandomInternetUser6120]

It probably is tbh

[@karlwilker579]

Well, it's... China so....

[@XOPOIIIO]

@@karlwilker579 So use VPN.

[@karlwilker579]

@@XOPOIIIO And then get arrested.

[@XOPOIIIO]

@@karlwilker579 As far as I know it's not illegal to use.

[@gunavanthvarma5972]

this reminds me of KOTA which is a place in india which also is a student factory where students from acroos the country flock there to prepare for exams which allow them to get into the premier institutes in india

[@aryankadam608]

Like Maotanchang we in India 🇮🇳 have Kota, where 1000s of students come every year to prepare for JEE (Entrance for IITs) and NEET (Entrance for Medicine) and few 100s are selected . At present every Science student is forced to appear for this by their parents

[@tejassb8658]

I was surprised to hear Top 10% are selected in Tier 1 Colleges. I think you'll have to be in the Top 1.3% for the IIT's.

[@ajaysinghrathore1940]

But atleast Kota has a lot of good places to chill.

[@just_a_curious_thinker]

But, Entrance exams in india don't care about your talent, they rather care about our *category* 😔 I remember some students who have around 90-110 marks in JEE were placed above 180 marks of mine because they belonged to *SC, ST, VJ, SBC* etc. If you belong to *OPEN* caste you are already screwed. I want to suggest the Government that this is not same india as it had been during independence when reservations were put forth. Nowadays the situations are totally different. Almost 50% people of Lower categories belong to middle-class like OPEN ones. So, why is there still such a difference??😕 Also, many OPEN students like me belong to below average economic status. What about them ?? Rather the reservation should only be based on Economic status. Also, poor people must be provided 100% exemption from fees but they should not be given relaxation in marks. Admission on basis of marks should be fair & equal for everyone. Reservation should only provide fee exemption for students with poor economic status. (PS :- No Political party will ever stop reservation system because they like to *Divide & rule* people. The category system is not for benefits of poor, but for the benefits of politicians.)

[@parvaparmar986]

@@just_a_curious_thinker same boat

[@sa34w]

@@just_a_curious_thinker it's not exactly true, sure financial reservation can be one of the catagory for admission but total of 70 percent is for unreserved students and 30 is basically for some reserved seats for some communities who are marginalized by certain other communities. The issue is also with social justice and other factors. Fyi : I don't have reservations but I could also feel the sting since I came about top 20 in college list when a person with bare minimum marks got in with reservation but a lot of other factors come into play in a diverse country like India where cast and religion plays a lot of role.

[@xinniether-pooh989]

12 years have passed since my high school, and I still have nightmares about Gaokao

[@anshulpandey1]

In India we have the very same system. You can say it is 90% similar to Chiniese system. Change the city name to Kota, exam name to JEE and now you can give it 4 times in a year starting from 2021.

[@jasrajbhatia6632]

You can give JEE Advanced only twice in your life

[@ashutoshsamantaray2572]

Gao kao seems way more scarier than our process..

[@jasrajbhatia6632]

@@ashutoshsamantaray2572 I checked out some problems of gaokao. And I can say they are relatively easier than those asked in JEE Advanced. Their level is similar to those asked in CBSE 12th boards Exams. Btw I am an UG Student at IIT Delhi.

[@ashutoshsamantaray2572]

@@jasrajbhatia6632 ya but that's never the problem. They are far too competitive. (16hrs a day is a lot for me to fight against). Competitive Exams check relative preparedness which is why I will find it harder there..

[@ashutoshsamantaray2572]

@@jasrajbhatia6632 oh great, I am to give the exam in this month hopefully I will get the good colleges too.

[@yinfengfu266]

As a Chinese, I actually never heard of this town before, but I have no doubt this kind of town exist.

[@linch9741]

推荐一下纪录片《高考》，说的就是视频里的毛坦厂中学。

[@xuchen4012]

啊？你不知道毛坦厂？那更出名的衡水中学知道吗？

[@yinfengfu266]

@@xuchen4012 衡水知道这个镇不知道。因为我只能算半个中国教育体制内的人所以不知道也正常

[@sentient_slab]

Æß$ëü

[@shaileshshrivastava4741]

I know u all r using transalator yt is not present in china😂😂

[@kotobaG]

If you failed in Gaokao, you have to apply for a foreign university. That's why I went to USC.

[@jhanschoo]

Can't help but chuckle at this comment

[@demonlord4661]

It’s not that simple. You need to have a lot of money to study overseas and not only that there’s loans, debit cards issues there’s apartments fees

[@user-tz5uq2bt1s]

All I remember from school that I can say I “learned” is reading, writing, and math up to Algebra 1. Everything else I learned in school is gone and all of my knowledge I currently have that isn’t one of those three I learned outside of school.

[@nexzae]

You missed that people going to that “study factory” usually go because they already did the test previously and got unsatisfactory grades.

[@thebestcentaur]

As an American with a history of higher education in my family, I am both fascinated and horrified by the lengths many Chinese students must go to to have even a shot at ANY university, let alone any of the top tiers or C9 schools. Absolute madness.

[@dian277]

my parents and I moved to the US when I was in middle school, they said I was fortunate to not having to take this exam. To me, middle school in china was as hard as undergrad in the US, now I'm in one of the most rigorous graduate programs, I feel like maybe I can understand the highschool students in China

[@elonmusk9814]

Can I ask you a question, from which grade is English taught in China?

[@dian277]

@@elonmusk9814 most elementary schools should start teaching in 1st grade now, many kindergartens also teach English

[@sanguin3]

The Vietnamese university entrance exam is suprisingly similar to this one, just without the tremendous amount of pressure applied to students.

[@jerrytom8309]

I got 661 in Gaokao and went into NanJing Univerisity. Now I live in Sydney. The college entrance examination is the fairest way in China at present. You can freely choose the way of life you want through your own efforts. Instead of the judge's son is still the judge, the thief's son is still the thief. It's just a fair chance.

[@yzhang2008]

Can't agree more!

[@srimanch9350]

There is a city in india called KOTA, which is used for grinding highscool education to do well in an exam called JEE, which is similar to NCEE in china. So many paralells to countries which are in a brink of war

[@elliotttheneko]

it doesn't matter where we are from or who we are, the consensus is that us Asians never change our stubborn yet hard working ways

[@yosoda5990]

I heard that Gaokao in india is easy to cheat, is that true? just asking

[@srimanch9350]

Given that there are 5-6 sets and answers being complicated than simple multiple choice questions, its hard to understand what you are copying and to add to that even the top brass gets only 50% of the questions correct .So you need to have good knowledge on the subject to even cheat. But yeah copying from others is easy.

[@just_a_curious_thinker]

But, Entrance exams in india don't care about your talent, they rather care about our *category* 😔 I remember some students who have around 90-110 marks in JEE were placed above 180 marks of mine because they belonged to *SC, ST, VJ, SBC* etc. If you belong to *OPEN* caste you are already screwed. I want to suggest the Government that this is not same india as it had been during independence when reservations were put forth. Nowadays the situations are totally different. Almost 50% people of Lower categories belong to middle-class like OPEN ones. So, why is there still such a difference??😕 Also, many OPEN students like me belong to below average economic status. What about them ?? Rather the reservation should only be based on Economic status. Also, poor people must be provided 100% exemption from fees but they should not be given relaxation in marks. Admission on basis of marks should be fair & equal for everyone. Reservation should only provide fee exemption for students with poor economic status. (PS :- No Political party will ever stop reservation system because they like to *Divide & rule* people. The category system is not for benefits of poor, but for the benefits of politicians.)

[@just_a_curious_thinker]

@@yosoda5990 You are joking right. Else you are just trying to defame our country (India) Let me tell you in JEE exams anti-cheat security is quite tough. They check you with metal detectors before entering exam hall (we feel like some terrorist🤣). Then, they check your clothes thoroughly. Nothing (except hall ticket) is allowed to keep with you inside exam hall. (You can't even carry your pen or pad) They provide their pens. Also their are CCTV cameras to monitor you everytime.

[@simonhaas6480]

16h of studying? What about a healthy amount of sleep? When do you eat in that time? Who does the lundery and where is it done?

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

In some cram schools (saw a documentary about one) there are dorms for the kids. The mothers live there with them and take care of all of that. The sole purpose the child strives for is the gaokao. Nothing more. After hours of classes the kids go back to their rooms, eat dinner with their mothers and then continue studying. Rinse repeat

[@ouziqi198]

Me, after 中考(Zhong Kao) (the mini-Gao Kao, we suppose to take it when we are only 15), always have trouble falling asleep. I remember those years preparing it are like nightmare. We can never do anything other than study and surviving. And when that few hours come, it is extremely stressful and painful. It can really break a young kid. So when it comes 高考(Gao Kao), I escape from the Chinese stupid education system and study aboard. Now I am still struggling to learn how to be a human being, and how to just temporary put the study away from my mind and just enjoy my life.

[@claireshi7384]

Zhong kao nowadays are almost as, or sometimes even more important than gao kao. News even stated that only one third of Chinese middle school graduates can go to high school. :(

[@AB-bd4cs]

Take care of yourself, you got this!

[@melodyxie5889]

Ok, stupid. This stupid system helped many poor people get out of their original class.Maybe your parents get into higher classes by this way so that you have the condition to go abroad.

[@ouziqi198]

@@melodyxie5889 If that is not stupid, the quality of every education institution should not be that unequal. "Equal competition" is a lie, competition exists because there exists inequality. And I believe CCP should have tons of money to make those "lower education institutions" much better. Look how fat those high-rank governors are :)

[@ouziqi198]

@@AB-bd4cs THANK YOU :D

[@scheimong]

Gaokao (and its little sibling, Zhongkao 中考, High school entrance exam) waste so much time and effort of the students who have no choice due to their families' social status. I experienced this first hand as I grew up. So I grew up in Shanghai, and was fortunate enough to be born into a well-educated, upper-middle-class family. My parents valued good education from the beginning, but also recognised the horrible ordeals that are 中考 and 高考. Therefore they transferred me into an international school running the IB programme very early. As I followed along in the IB course, I couldn't help but notice my peers in the local system surpass me early on in progress. This is especially noticeable in maths as my mom encourages me to try to keep up with them by solving some of their problems and exercises once in a while. Afterwards when I return to class the next day, I sometimes felt the difficulty was akin to that in primary school. This feeling was most prominent at around 7th grade. However, once I hit 8th and 9th grade, the slowdown in progress in the local system almost felt like a hiatus, meanwhile my progress in the IB system was only accelerating. The reason why? Because local students are spending the better part of this time preparing for 中考. They are almost exclusively reviewing learned material during this time, which also explains why their progress prior was so fast - the educators have to squeeze the course to make time for this review period. During 10th and the first half of 11th grade, I would say that our progress were on near-equal footing. Obviously we had different courses - I learned world history as opposed to Chinese history; my courses were mostly taught in English as opposed to Chinese; and of course my curriculum was built against the IB exam instead of 高考. But during the second half of 11th grade and the entirety of 12th grade, the progress of my peers in the local system had a near-hiatus yet again, while my IB system went full steam ahead. By the end of high school, I can definitively say that the IB system has overtaken the local system by at least one year in maths progress. And this isn't the only problem faced by students in the local education system. Guess what percentage of Chinese high school graduates suffer from nearsightedness. Answer is a sickening 81%. Yes that is eighty-one percent. Years of heavy reading and writing certainly took its toll. The percentage in my international school was much, much lower - about 30~40% percent I estimate. Of course social factors certainly skew the results, but that doesn't disprove just how bad of an effect the local system has on students' health. So why doesn't everyone attend international schools? Of course, the answer is economics. The tuition to attend any international school is expensive, which makes the opportunity exclusive. I stayed in the IB system in one of Shanghai's best international schools until high school graduation, when I successfully entered arguably the best university in UK. Guess which one; it's really not difficult. All this came at a significant economic cost - my tuition fees from start to finish (undergraduate) totalled roughly ￥1.35M, which is roughly $200K. While this is not unimaginably lavish given it's spent over 15 years, it certainly was one of the biggest spendings in my family. And note that we live in Shanghai, where wages are among the highest in the entirety of China. I don't want to sound preposterous, but this amount of spending would be backbreaking for most middle-class families in other less wealthy regions. Yet the prospect of a high-quality education without torment has driven so many middle-class families, many of which significantly less wealthy than my own, to spend the majority of their earnings in the tuitions for good international schools. This trend was only exacerbated by the discontinuation of the One-child Policy in 2015, as the first generation of families with more than one children are starting their "school hunt" just now. By laws of supply and demand, the pricetags of good international schools are only going to rise, which will further differentiate the rich from the poor. This is just one sign of solidifying social classes in China - the age of 一考定终身 (lit. one test determines entire life) is already moving past rapidly. The higher echelons of society are essentially paying their way out of the cruel, unforgiving filter that is the 高考 in seeking a less competitive and higher-quality path for their offsprings. If the government wishes to maintain a high degree of social mobility, then a drastic revamp of the entire education system is absolutely necessary. I have no idea how it would be done though - there has never existed any selection process in human history that can fairly accommodate tens of millions of candidates. But if things stay the way they are, China's class structure will eventually stabilise into a form not unlike the one the Communist Party seeked to overthrow a full century ago.

[@stevenkyle9426]

thanks for sharing. That is very good analysis

[@briansendpie448]

Gaokao changes lives. My dad was so poor that his school bag was made by my Grandma using disposed cloth. He had to first do his farm job then go to school. He did not do very well on Gaokao but still managed to get into a tier 1 university. People are willing to give university students jobs at that time. As my dad majored at electric engineering, he profited from the rising amount of electronics in the 1990s by fixing electronics Gaokao is not life-determining. My dad loved doing any kind of job, and he got into some sort of internship the second year of college( basically an upperclass man taught my dad how to fix electronics) and opened up his own business as soon as he graduated. Because my dad did not feel his body allowed him to work until four in the morning anymore, he self-retired early(also it’s partly because I broke his hard drive carrying all his programs. Oops.) However, he still have rent from the few houses he own. Some of my dad’s schoolmates are still stuck entered large companies (at that time) and we’re stuck in that position forever. Their jobs died with those companies. A better university provides a better platform for students to compete. However, personal abilities is more important than schools in career. Gaokao is not the end of everything.

[@attica712]

I’ve just taken the Gaokao this July and was fortunate enough to be admitted into my dream school. I still have bad dreams about all our scores suddenly being rendered void and I have to go through my 12th grade (we call it 复读) again 😭

[@ShusenWang]

Even if I am now an assistant professor in the US, I occasionaly have nightmares about Gao Kao and woke up at night. It was 15 years ago, yet it is still haunting me.

[@elijahlovejoy5438]

Interesting. Are the nightmare of taking the test itself or the results?

[@rishipardeshi6961]

Polymatter and HAI upload at the same time: Me: Happiness noise

[@butterfly7562]

What's HAI

[@WuShenRong]

@@butterfly7562 Half as interesting, another channel who give educational videos.

[@butterfly7562]

@@WuShenRong Well, I've been paying attention to it but I didn't realize it was short for it 😿

[@Gabrielcs97]

And the same stock footage

[@meher.]

Don't forget A Hill To Die On

[@alanwang848]

I took my exam back in 2019, even after I left school for 2 years under the depression disorder. And I was admitted. I wanna to correct some of the contests. A. In China, there is a system for students to use other criteria to enter the top Tier 1 schools, it's called "Self-admission". But you STILL NEED TO ATTEND GAOKAO. The Universities will set their own criteria, for example recommdation letter, papers that's been published on a national jounral, your own litrature work, or national third prize (NOT third place) of National Olympiad for (Informatics, mathmatics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics). If you fit the criteria, you will need a second test (both interview and written test), and they will decide to give you what kind of benifit. The best of them usually get ‘As low as Tier 1 Control Line Score’ ( which is a score line set by the provincal educational examinations authority, if you're lower than that point you cannot be admitted by tier 1 schools (majors) , which is usually way lower than the normal admission line of the school), others may reduce 30 points, 20 points, or even 5 points. I was prepared for it, but in 2019, the Ministry of Education found out that there are many students choose to pay for the paper or the litrature work, so MoE command (best universities of China is basically 'belonged' to MoE) to tight up the criterias. So most schools choose just to acknowlegde National Olympiad for (Informatics, Mathmatics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics) cuz they were held on a national scale and cannot be faked. And I was aiming for the law major. Holy Christ. ALL OF THOSE COMPITATION IS NOT REALATED TO LAW! And I failed... B. Tier 1/2/3 is more about the higher educational resouces of this province, each province have it's unique line and unique list of majors and school of Tier 1/2/3. For example, my school, Yanbian Universities in the rest of China is a Tier 1 school, but in Northeast China, some majors is belong in Tier 2. C. There is usually a plan B (of Tier 1/2) for the ethic minorities and rural students which set up a different schedule so they will not compete to the others. But there is few quota and less schools and majors will give quota for plan B, mostly ethic universities. All above is just a simple explain for this huge Exam, the best way to find it out is to take it yourself. PS: Non-Chinese citizens (Mainland) may have a much simpliar exam, and sometime if you're coming from other countires, you can be admitted without any test.(but you need to learn Chinese)

[@mattliu27]

When I was preparing for Gaokao, I thought it's ridiculous that a test score gets to define my first 19 years of life. When I was in the university, I started to believe that Gaokao is the fairest game there is in China. No matter how rich or how poor, we all take the same test. A kid who lived in a ditch for 19 years has the same chance of receiving higher-education as a kid of a billionaire. Now, 10 years after I graduated. I have accepted that I was wrong in all two counts. Now I think the Gaokao is an imperfect but effective tool for a country with 1.3 billion people. Those who got admitted by the top schools are either crazy smart or determined enough to buckle down and go through hell. Either trait can be greatly beneficial for life.

[@DonaldJezos]

👍

[@hedition9346]

So, a ranger Hell's Week for academics. Not saying it is all useless, but the best academics are not necessary the best innovators. As long as people who fail it don't think it is all over, I guess its alright.

[@BernieSanders-bn5dk]

From an outsiders perspective it's funny anyone of those kids who ''failed'' the Chinese exam are probably well prepared for any American University, And American university's enjoy letting a *certain* *percentage* of nonwhite students into their university through Affirmative Action Policy's, Witch actually benefit white *woman* the most.

[@gelinrefira]

Lol Americans will buckle under Gaokao.

[@αστρον]

Or if your're really rich.

[@alexhe3747]

Back in high school, actually throughout my education in China all the way from primary school, I was not the brightest, not the most high-achiever, did not place high in all the tests (except for English, I always did well but not at the very beginning due to being raised in poor countryside, but moved with parents in the big city at the age of 5) I would get places like 573/1085, very mediocre, sometimes 321/1085 but never top of the class, always just middle or just above average. My parents were just happy enough that I tried my best in those tests and that I had done what they expected, nothing more, nothing less. This went on until I turned 18 and went on an exchange to the UK. I had realised that my whole life I had lived under the norms of the societal pressure and selective competitiveness of taking rounds and rounds of tests for that one big final test which determines which mediocre university I'm gonna go to and then what kind of mediocre job I will get and what a mediocre life I will live. This by no means was a disaster or unfortunateness in anyone's standard like you can still live a pretty decent life at least you got food, a roof over your head and the occasional fun along, so what's really to complain? But no! Life should be much more than this, I thought, and I wanted to take more risks and so I made the choice to study abroad. Now I'm living in a big city called Sydney, still chasing my dreams to become the first biomedical scientist in my whole family and living in my own terms. I still think back then what would have happened if I didn't quit my university mid-way in China and just graduated in June, 2021. At what stage would my life turn to, better or worse? Would I be happier if I had just been docile and a good kid/son/student all my life? I think not. Given the choice again, I will do it all over again and change nothing at all. I don't think Gaokao is the definitive line that can determine one's life cause at any point in life we can alter our own course of actions for better or worse. I hope we can all make it for the better!

[@sushanalone]

Thanks for triggering my PTSD from Indian higher education after 10 years. I still get nightmares that i overslept or studied for the wrong subject. No few hours of your life- the best or the worst should define your future, dignity , social status or destiny. Life is long and a process of growth.

[@irregulardata5150]

Polymatter is at its best when making a video on china. Love it.

[@sxli3340]

poly mattter s

[@SSS20025]

Ye s

[@flux202]

I believe Poly has Chinese roots and he's been researching them for knowing who he is...

[@ab1577]

Yeah. Makes a lot if since. You are smart.

[@CantShootMe]

I guess Wendover then has a family full of pilots lol

[@elviszhang]

@@CantShootMe LMAO That make sence!

[@Septimus_ii]

Maybe, but people sometimes get fascinated by subjects that they don't have any family connection to

[@sxli3340]

@@CantShootMe who he is... d

[@c9m931]

as a child of two chinese immigrants who scored high on the gaokao and made it into a good university, they tell me that although the system seems harsh, is it what they sacrifice for the equality that is so highly regarded in China for example, China has very large economic disparities in different regions of the country. if the university admission was determined by something similar to foreign application systems (Common App, UCAS etc) or curriculums (IB, Cambridge) where applicants are evaluated by a number of different factors such as extracurricular activity, honors/awards, references, the poor would have significantly less access to oppourtunities to achieve well. corruption and bribery would also be present in higher society. pretty much, no matter who you are, you can study, you can memorise, you can practice with textbooks. therefore the gaokao is a way for everyone to have the same and equal path to success

[@shauyaun4285]

I got anxiety just by watching this😖

[@sxli3340]

im panic

[@curtistang9189]

This is the hardest test in academic life and is the simplest test in the whole life.

[@oliver.mayes2305]

No one: Pollymatter: chiiinnnna

[@MC_MMV]

And HAI too

[@MC_MMV]

2 minutes apart as well

[@oliver.mayes2305]

@@pawsindmeinlieblingsfach3518 yes.......your point

[@MC_MMV]

@@oliver.mayes2305 it is animaniacs nations of the world. I suggest you search it up. The song is brilliant

[@somethinglikethat2176]

It's his second China video out of the last 8.

[@jamesbldwn1]

Kinda wild that in the USA, you can fail completely in high school, go work as an uber driver or menial job then go to community college for a STEM subject, transfer into a good university, graduate and start working alongside researchers/scientists who likely had to do well in the Gaokao to get where they are at (my true life story)

[@maraisfan4life517]

Why STEM?

[@yzhang2008]

Your story is possible in China too. But your way is even more difficult than the GaoKao way.

[@tejassb8658]

Can you make a similar one on the test they have in India? I hear it's quite brutal.

[@satyavarsan503]

I'm an indian and I just had to go through these tests here a million people compete for 20k seats and the competition is brutal the are many specialized schools to prepare the students for these exams . Some of these schools make the students study for around 16 hours a day and there is a entire city called kota that is just like the city as mentioned in the above video students flock there to get into coaching institutes and their life is just studying day and night . Judging by your name I guess you're an indian and may I know why you asked the question

[@shamiksinha4808]

Don't act like you are not an Indian 😂, the way you asked the question makes it clear you are from India 😂😂

[@tejassb8658]

@@shamiksinha4808 that's the only way they take it seriously.. .

[@shamiksinha4808]

@@tejassb8658 LMAO, that's actually smart then XD

[@just_a_curious_thinker]

But, Entrance exams in india don't care about your talent, they rather care about our *category* 😔 I remember some students who have around 90-110 marks in JEE were placed above 180 marks of mine because they belonged to *SC, ST, VJ, SBC* etc. If you belong to *OPEN* caste you are already screwed. I want to suggest the Government that this is not same india as it had been during independence when reservations were put forth. Nowadays the situations are totally different. Almost 50% people of Lower categories belong to middle-class like OPEN ones. So, why is there still such a difference??😕 Also, many OPEN students like me belong to below average economic status. What about them ?? Rather the reservation should only be based on Economic status. Also, poor people must be provided 100% exemption from fees but they should not be given relaxation in marks. Admission on basis of marks should be fair & equal for everyone. Reservation should only provide fee exemption for students with poor economic status. (PS :- No Political party will ever stop reservation system because they like to *Divide & rule* people. The category system is not for benefits of poor, but for the benefits of politicians.)

[@sutats]

Actually, my name's Jiang and I do speak English. Jared likes to say I don't because he thinks it makes me seem more authentic. And I got second in that national math competition.

[@prathamshah8388]

ah you made a clever jared vanett joke i like it

[@cheungch1990]

The only way to solve this issue is to wait until China develops a large enough amount of middle class jobs so that the competitiveness of the job market and thereby Uni entry can be tamed. If China follows what the US education is doing right now and students do whatever they want and everyone gets a trophy, then uni will enroll students based on things like whether they play a classical instrument, having been a football team captain, or having knowledge or skills that is beyond what their school taught etc., and that will be a very bad news for the vast amount of poor family in China who cannot afford to pay for these extraciricular education. It will also give a lot of advantage for middle class families for being able to provide this kind of liberal "cultivation" over the poor families who can only rely on public institution for their kids' education because they've spent their whole life in a field/factory and they don't know a dame about how to make yourself look smart. The Gaokao is an necessary equaliser for a relatively fair chance of upward mobility, at least for now. When China has become wealthy enough that most young people will be able to work a decent job and have a decent income, the Gaokao will then be obsolent and young people will be able to develop their personality in their own variety of ways.

[@googleit4606]

Doubt it. Higher education in the US today is such a failure given its abundant resource. Receiving higher education is not only about getting a job but more about improving yourself and on a large scale advancing human civilization.

[@longislandlegoboy]

@@googleit4606 debatable. Good colleges in the US are GOOD colleges. Bad ones are BAD.

[@googleit4606]

@@longislandlegoboy Well they are good in a way that you could find a lot of elites there, thanks to their wealthy families, but that is not the only reason, or not even the main reason why we need colleges. Equity and equality for those "good" colleges are nothing but a joke. At least my school board members treat it totally as a business, despite being famous for "diversity".

[@longislandlegoboy]

@@googleit4606 I mean the main differences towards people attending those good colleges is the high schools you go to. No matter who you are, unless your parents like donated a wing of the school, you can't just pay your way in and brute force it without entirely cheating the system and forging scores and such.

[@googleit4606]

​@@longislandlegoboy lol it requires connections too if you want to only donate a wing. Some international students without connections need to "donate" much more

[@niranjanr8075]

1:30 In India, we have such a place called KOTA in a state region called Rajasthan with every pvt educational centre to rob money. No wonder hard exams don't improve education

[@nvnh9q9on97]

Probably the most difficult exam not just in China, but also across the world.

[@mingqili4599]

I am still keeping those excercise books and exam papers. That reminds me of the hard work during the 12th grade.

[@MohamedSalahYouTube]

Ah my favorite KZbinr , ChinaMatter

[@natalieyam1494]

living in china as a student is really tough, secondary school students often go to school at round 7-8am and only leave school at 8-9pm with minimal breaks in between. the competition over there is something us foreigners may find hard to comprehend

[@yusacetin4235]

Even though it's become a cliché, I really love these China videos, please keep them coming

[@xer0895]

"situated in a valley in between the mountains, is a town called..." **drumroll** "Mountain Chang"

[@CorporateShill]

Creeper avatar ?

[@huyueqi]

I failed this one. And everytime anything reminds me would break me (like now). That's something you should never let your emeny know. Even the failure turns out doesn't matter at all...

[@connorconnor2421]

Imagine trolling society by honking for 1 microsecond during the test

[@somethung8188]

-10000 social credit score or prob go to jail

[@MutanClare]

As a Chinese student who had just finished Gaokao several weeks ago,I won't describe it as a nightmare,neither will most of my classmates.Luckily,I think I'm a beneficiary of Gaokao,without being deprived activities or being sent into the studying factory. The difficulties of entering a good university are very different in different provinces.The province shown in the video,is like a Hell Difficulty in games.For me,it's unnecessary to spent 16h studying a day.The anxiety does exist,but it's within an acceptable level. I think the main reason is that I'm not from a rural family so i didnt carry too much hope of crossing society classes.I dont think a fair national college entrance examination should be blamed,but the difficulty of crossing society classes and the huge gap between rich and poor is the reason why people bend over backwards to enter Tsinghua,and bring incredible anxiety.I would like to thank Gaokao for let my efforts be rewarded while didn't ruin my youth time. I do hear the news of studying factory,the most famous is 衡水高中(Hengshui High School) in Hebei Province.I think I'm lucky to be born in the region where i could complete the campaign on Normal difficulty.I believe that the excessive pursuit to Gaokao marks won't disappear until the gap between rich and poor be filled

[@leoliu1185]

Bear in mind that Gaokao also provided fairness, in which the rich and the poor take the same test and no other ways to game it than just study hard. I did fairly ok at 566/750 for Sichuan back in 2012. I did came from a rather privileged family and I studied along side my friends from poor families. After all, if they did better than me (which many did), they did better and went to higher tier universities. There was nothing my extra curricular or foreign exchanges (to UK and HK) could’ve have helped me. So in this way, it eased the education inequality. Now studying in the US as a PhD students, much of the focus in admissions were in personal statement and activities and connections you have, which the rich kids will always have more and the poor and not something the poor kids can ever catch up on their own. In a way, the destiny is predetermined the moment they are born. This, is why I support Gaokao, be it cruel or mechanical, 我命由我不由天, my fate is in my hand , just grind harder than everyone, no matter how poor in my family, I just need to beat that neighbors “rich kid that did 566” to get ahead in collage entrance.

[@jais7.10]

nah fuck any test, trade stocks and have fun

[@inkubator320]

Actually the test still isn’t fair to those who have disabilities

[@leoliu1185]

@@inkubator320 it is inequitable. In fact GaoKao would be the most inequitable system in the world , yet also the fairest. Fairness and equitability are 2 conflicting property. If something is fair then necessarily inequitable . If something is equitable, then necessarily unfair.

[@_ashmason007]

@@leoliu1185 Not true. The rich families have private tutors these days, plus different cram schools, the best ones with high success rates are very expensive and only affordable by rich families. Plus almost all rich families can easily send the child abroad for college which isn't an option for a middle income or low income family, they have to work blue collar jobs. Really surprising you're Chinese, because everyone knows this here, it's anything but "fair".

[@_ashmason007]

@@leoliu1185 Seems like we never developed from the medieval times, first fight to work in the Palace, now fight for a good life://

[@potatoesandducks958]

This test is so scary, even just its aura is able to inflict dread on all of us

[@marcc1179]

although i still have nightmares of failing Gaokao, i have to say it is a very fair system. My life was changed after getting admitted to a tier1 university. I want to thank myself for studying hard enough back then :)

[@inkubator320]

It’s not fair to students with disabilities tho….

[@jessicali4182]

@@inkubator320 with such a high population it’s probably the fairest ur gonna get

[@optimx314]

the most fair system

[@preshenkumar5632]

Hey uh Marc i dont know if you are still online but i wanna know how to become as smart as you. Im a grade 5 student in Malaysia and i wanna study ahead of my syllabus so i know everything. But i would really like to know how gaokao changed your life and how i can become as smart as you with what to study on and how long and also just how. It would be really nice, thanks even if you dont see this:D

[@marcc1179]

@@preshenkumar5632 hello, I don't think you should study ahead of your syllabus...it is pretty boring to study sth twice. I suggest that you start learning how to code from this age :) my colleague graduated from a tier 3 school, but he is now a billionaire. Computer science is amazing!

[@youssefhossam9576]

We have something identical in Egypt we call it "Tanseeq".

[@greekswaglord-dathistoryla201]

In Greece we've got the panhellenics, it is very despised here in Greece

[@mostafaahmedibrahim2541]

Yea but Tanseeq is nothing compared to this

[@scm534]

I took the test 10 years ago. I was lucky and my score ranked top 200 out of 125,000 students. I was admitted into one of the top schools but my rank was still not high enough to lemme choose the major I'm into. I ended up studying Public Administration in college but I never really listened in a single class, cus I'm not even interested in social science (like at all) and I did not have many choices in which major to do. Even if I had the choice, I probably would not know what program to choose and would ended up choosing a hot major like Finance or Computer Science. The worst thing about Gaokao is you spent that many years studying those subjects to be tested, and you dont have have the time to explore what you're really into, and a lot of ppl ended up in a program they're not really interested in, and it's hard to change major in Chinses colleges.

[@em-t5796]

Till a few years ago, I still had nightmares about GAOKAO. I somehow came back studying in my high school and needed to take GAOKAO again but I forgot every bit of knowledge I learnt decades ago so I was extremely anxious in the dreams. Two of my close family members suffered from similar dreams and they are even older than me. We were all good students and doing well in school but even after decades, the stress of 12 year long intense marathon of GAOKAO still hasn't left us.

[@余明涛]

I come from Maotanchang Senior High School, and my three years here were exhausting. The biggest harm this school did to me was that I lost my desire and passion for learning during my freshman and sophomore years!