Society

Graduates turn from Gaokao to SAT

By Wang Qingyun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-16 21:51

About 2,500 high school students in Beijing have registered for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) this year. Last year's figure was around 1,000, according to Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday.

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Among the best Beijing high schools, 55 senior students from Beijing No 4 High School have received admission offers from overseas colleges and universities. This is an increase of 40% from last year. There are more than 60 students in the High School Affiliated to Renmin University that will start higher education abroad this year. This is an increase of 50 percent from last year. There are also classes where all students have attended SAT training courses.

The trend has been going on in Shanghai for years. Every year there are 20 percent of high school graduates who choose to study abroad. "About 50 students give up their admission to the university every year," said Ding Guanghong, dean of Fudan University's admission office. "At first we thought it was because they couldn't afford tuition, but later investigation found they are almost all going to study abroad."

Wu Qun, manager of a Shenyang based foreign study agency, said the increasing number of students choosing to study abroad is because they would like to evade Gaokao, the national college entrance exam. "It's too hard to get into good universities like Tsinghua or Peking University through Gaokao. Yet there are more chances to get into a first class foreign university."

However, Wang Dong (alias), a high school graduate from Beijing who was admitted to Princeton, says he's not shying away from Gaokao. "I am not afraid of Gaokao. ... (But) Foreign top class universities offer education of diversity."

He Yizheng, a high school student was accepted to an engineering school, believes studying abroad will hone his competiveness. He says he was impressed by the difference between Chinese and American participants in Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. "The American students are more focused on creativity and sustainability of their work."