Korean SAT

Today was the day of reckoning for Korea's high school seniors. They have been preparing for this day their entire academic career. Today was SAT day.

You may not know much about the Korean SAT. It sounds awfully similar to the American SAT. But it differs in 3 ways:
1. Students can only take this test once a year.
2. This test scores almost exclusively determines admittance into a Korean university. Korean universities have quotas they must fill, so if your score is .5 behind the cutoff, you're cutoff.
3. Everyone takes this test at the same time nationally. Let me reiterate. At 10 AM, every high school senior in the country begins the English listening portion of the test.

This day is so important that Korea shuts down the airports because the planes will disturb the test takers. Younger students, parents, friends, and teachers all line up to cheer on the seniors as they enter the testing locations. Banners wishing them luck are posted EVERYWHERE.

Just imagine being a high school senior. No pressure.

I happen to think this is one of the most terrible aspects of the Korean educational system. To determine someone's future university almost solely on a single day of testing is, well, contrary to the spirit of education. Sure, it doesn't evaluate that one day, rather testing how hard the person has studied and memorized for the last year (perhaps 3 years). However, this test cannot measure a student's capacity to problem solve in real life. It cannot gauge the person's ability to engage in scholarly discourse, and it can certainly not determine potential. Granted, the American SAT doesn't address these either. Yet, the university admittance system is much more geared toward selecting individuals, not posting numbers. Perhaps I'm being swayed by my experience with the ND application process. Regardless, I still dislike the Korean one.