The alternative Susi process, not unlike the U.S. The Suneung isn’t the only way to get into university, but it is the most common and respected one. We thought that if we successfully finish the test, then the bright future would automatically follow.” The exam is seen as “the final goal and final determinant of our lives. “Most teachers emphasize that if we failed Suneung, the rest of our lives would be failure, because the test is the first (and last) step to our successful lives,” said Sina Kim, a 25-year-old currently looking for a job. Given the stakes, the preparation for and discussion surrounding the Suneung in South Korea can be, as Ye Dam Yi, a recent college graduate who works for a trade company in Seoul, described it, apocalyptic. Whereas for most South Korean students, the Suneung is the determining factor for where they go to college, in the United States, SAT or ACT test scores make up a smaller portion of the admissions decision-and there are hundreds of universities and colleges moving away from considering the scores at all.

That’s after 12 years of education spent preparing to take it the first time, the last three of which involve hours of extra study time daily in a sprint toward the Suneung.Īs a point of comparison, the major college-entrance tests in the United States, the SATs and ACTs, clock in at under four hours each. Those who don’t do well, don’t pass, or aren’t satisfied with their score can retake the test-in one year. The best result is admission to one of the country’s top universities: Seoul National University, Korea University, or Yonsei University. It’s as if the entire nation of South Korea is focused on getting students to the test and making sure they do as well as they can. For students running late, local police offered taxi services. Businesses delayed opening to keep traffic off the streets, and planes paused takeoffs during the English-language listening section of the test. Some of the students’ parents prayed at churches and temples some may have even waited, pacing outside the gates, while their children endured the eight-hour test. As students walked to the exam centers, well-wishers handed out “yut”-a type of taffy and a sign of good luck, so that test-takers would “stick” to the university they want. On Thursday in South Korea, hundreds of thousands of high-school seniors sat down to take the Suneung, or the College Scholastic Ability Test.

Korea hard exam