There's one day every year when normally bustling South Korea practically comes to a halt. Planes are grounded, drivers are asked not to use their horns and the stock exchange opens an hour late. On November 10, all high school seniors nationwide take the university entrance examination: a test students spend most of their lives studying for and one that will determine their future.

Outside of the In Jang Boy's High School in Seoul, nervous looking young men pass through the main gate, most likely after a night of very little sleep. The students are greeted by a throng of younger students shouting words of encouragement and wishing the test takers good luck. A tardy student shows up to school in a police squad car, just minutes before the gates close.

The exam lasts about six hours and tests students on their Korean, math and foreign language skills.

"I'm pretty nervous, I don't know how confident I am about the test," says 18-year old Baek Seong Min. "But I think it's a pretty fair way to evaluate a student's abilities."

It's not only high school seniors who take the exam. Many students, like 19-year-old Lee Gun-young, are giving the test a second or third shot. "I feel pretty confident. This test will determine the rest of my life," says Lee, who hopes that his new score will be high enough so that he can transfer to a different school.

For Korean families, there are only four out of the nations' 196 institutes of higher education that really matter: the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and the so-called SKY schools (Seoul National, Korea and Yonsei Universities).

The son of Bae Tae-il, 47, is taking the exam for the first time this year. Like many other parents, Bae is hoping that his child will get accepted into one of the good universities. "In Korea, the name of the school means a lot. You can get more respect from other people if you go to a famous school. And you have better career opportunities depending on where you study," Bae says.

The Korean Dream

The pressure that Korean families and society put on students to score high on the entrance exam is unfair, according to some educational analysts.

"Korea is one of those cultures where you have a one shot in life," says Jasper Kim, a visiting scholar at Harvard who lectures in East-West comparative studies. "You have to peak at 17 to be anybody."

Kim says historically, Koreans have always placed a strong emphasis on education and followed a strict formula in life. A way of life which only intensified in the decades after the Korean War, when the nation was left in ruin and the only way to get ahead was to study as much as possible.

"Korea has had this focus on education to have a better tomorrow. It's basically the Korean dream. By acquiring the right education at the right institute, you can work at the right job and maintain the right social status," says Kim.

The Confucian tradition has also contributed to a system which emphasizes rogue memorization and but places less emphasis on critical thinking. Kim believes the entire educational infrastructure of South Korea is due for an overhaul to make the nation more competitive and creative in the 21stcentury.

"At the primary and secondary level that's really where the problem is. It's a relatively low quality of education in which teachers effectively teach to the test," Kim says. “They're not really focusing on the pedagogical advancement of their students. Rather, its how to get these students to pass a certain test, the college entrance exam, so that their placement rates at these top universities will be very high and make them look prestigious."

Kim adds that the obsession to nail the exam has created what he calls a "shadowy industry" of private tutoring and cram schools. Many South Korean families pay thousands of dollars a year to send their children to institutes that promise high scores on the university exam. And considering how lucrative the education business is in Korea, it will be hard to change the system anytime soon.

Waiting for results

Final results for the South Korean university entrance exam come out about two weeks later. Until then students have to wait and hope that the many hours of cram school and few hours of sleep have paid off.

High school senior Jane Bang, 18, took the test Thursday and says she can't be too sure how well she did. Bang and her classmates are just glad that it's all over now. "Everyone had stress and had to study hard," she says. She feels putting that much pressure on students is wrong and speaks for a flawed system. "Everyone makes mistakes and having just one big test isn't suitable."

Bang says she hopes her results will be high enough to grant her admission to Korea University where she plans to study economics. Anything less might not be acceptable.

Author: Jason Strother
Editor: Sarah Berning