Introduction to korean secondary and college education and comparison with american education

1. Intro


2. Body

Entering collge
; brief summary of secondary education system 못놀아서 축제때 미침

Korean secondary education system (6 years) focuses mostly on getting high grades on school exams and CSAT(College Scholastic Ability Test) at the end of the school year.
After finishing 3 years of senior secondary high school education, Korean students take CSAT to get into college. Getting into majors is different from American college in that students apply for certain majors in certain college when they get their test results. In contrast, Americans enter college as general students and apply for their major after completing pre-requisite courses and

Korea) getting accepted in majors depending on the scores from entrance exams (Korean, math, natural sciences, social sciences, 2nd foreign languages)
different secondary eduation system
America) high school performance, activities + additional tests (e.g. SAT)

college education system
; different grading methods (retaking classes, relative grading), "registration battle", technology, plagiarism, less focus on diversity education, studying abroad programs of each

-Here in America, all of the grades students get from the beginning are shown without exception.
Unlike it, when students in korean college get low grades in class, after the semester, they could re-take the same class and the previous lower grades will be completely replaced with the higher ones. In addition, most korean students gain their grades through competition, so the best performers get A+ (4.5/4.5 or 4.3/4.3) and the second get A zero (4.0/4.5) while only the individual performance matters when it comes to grades in America. Since most korean colleges are crowded, when the resisgration days come, students stay up at night and choose their classes with clicking within a few minutes.

college festivals

Korea) a specific festival held once a year, 'dong-a-ri' (club activities)
America - St.cloud state) No specific annual event except homecoming week

When there is a festival once a year in korean college, each department works independent of others and they prepare for selling food and drink and make a booth for a variety of games. They also compete with other departments when there is a sport competition. Each collge invites Korean celebrities to hold a big show during the festival. The festivals normally last a few days. In American colleges, it is hard to find any specific annual festivals or events where each department cooperates to compete with others for fun. In St.Cloud state, there is once-a-month event, called, 'Atwood Afterdark' and many cultural events such as Chinese nights and South Korean cafes which are hardly seen in korean college due to a lack of cultural diversity.

relationship between students and professors/juniors and seniors

Korea) 'respect for elders' culture
America) view professors as instructors

Respecting for elders is very critical in any society in Korea, or in Asian countries. Social norms will require you to speak and behave politely to elders such as your professors and seniors and if someone does not follow them, s/he will be in trouble in college, and even it will affect career life after graducation.

3. Conclusion