Korean Job Discussion Forums

robot · Joined: 07 Mar 2006

combined with the fact that many don't pen their own application essays.

at my old school, like many others, we'd get these half-brained cliche-ridden ramblings that we were basically supposed to rewrite for these rich ivy league hopefuls.

ROBT.

Beej · Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Location: Eungam Loop

Dont think for a moment that the US schools are unaware of this. Its about the money. Higher education is somewhat of a racket.
I never understood how foreign students could be able to graduate from American universities without native-like writing skills.

mikekim · Joined: 11 Aug 2006

Ivy League schools have an international quota to fill. I'm pretty sure they couldn't care less which rich Korean gets in. And its not like grades aren't modified when you get to Harvard either.

Gwangjuboy · Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Location: England

Anyone can get into an Ivy league school if you have the cash. Bush went to Yale for crying out loud.

Roch · Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul

JeJuJitsu · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Location: McDonald's

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

The assumption in Korea is that getting into university means getting the degree, and it's party time for four years. In North America, getting in is the beginning, and then you actually have to do some of that nasty work. Maybe the Ivy league is different. I would be interested to know the fail-out rate using such inflated transcripts.

Ken:>

Beej · Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Location: Eungam Loop

jmbran11 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Location: U.S.

It's also possible that some people actually earned all As because the school is easy or otherwise. They still have to sit for the SAT, TOEFL, essays, recommendations, and whatever else is required.

My high school transcript, for example, was all As, and no one padded it or changed it for me. I worked hard. Maybe some of the Korean students work hard too. They certainly work long. Maybe those are the ones more likely to be pushed into Ivy League schools. It's usually the pushy parents whose children perform better (from the constant pressure).

Either way, it doesn't really matter. It's just about getting in. Then they (theoretically) have to do the same work to graduate. The international students are not stealing spots away from Americans.

The inequitable access to quality education at the high-school level in the U.S. is far more of a reaching concern than a few Koreans who have questionable transcripts. The system isn't "fair" from start to finish. I've taught SAT courses to students of parents paying $2000 for the privilege (who consequently score much higher); Isn't that rigging the system? Having a family member who graduated (or, in Bush's case, donated a lot of money) helps you get in. Isn't that rigging the system?

Of course the Korean high schools will "help" their students get into better schools; it's the best advertising possible for them. I can't imagine anyone here is actually surprised. As far as I can see, grades here are not necessarily a refletion on performance (every try to fail your students?). After all, this is a country where they actually bribe teachers of children.

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

However JMbran11 then there's the problem of them actually being there. My school (which isn't an ivy league by any stretch of the imagination) had a huge problem with it's commerce degree because many students were failing the commerce law requirement of the degree as they didn't have the necessary English Language Skills in order to complete the paper. In the end the varsity would usually cave and give that student a 'conceeded pass' so that they graduate despite not having the necessary skills to communicate in English.

I also sat on my university's discpline committee where most of the cases heard where from students of North Asian descent who tried this same sort of nonsence and got caught by the system, and to be quiet frank the system only catches the really stupid cheats. Is it fair that this student should just get kept being passed on and on, with the stakes getting higher and higher until eventually they actually have to start using the skills they have supposedly learned?

What happens if you go to a clinic where a guy who was educated at Harvard medical school misdiagnoses you because he can't speak English well enough to get all the information.. Or what about the pilots who miscalcuate their landing? Or the engineer who decides to take short cuts in order to get their building up fast? The answer is that people die as a result.

The thing that annoys me the most is that for all the complaining that goes on about various affirmative action programmes, this sort of thing seems to be accepted with a nod and a wink. As long as you have enough cash to open the right doors.

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:01 pm Post subject:

MollyBloom · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Location: James Joyce's pants

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

I had one Korean students when I was a uni TA in Canada. None of the above surprises me. It's like they're grooming good but not fully ready students for failure.

Jamin · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Location: Daejon

Are you really surprised that students applying for top schools have top grades? It is my experience that Korean high schools are very competitive and that any student wanting to go abroad to a top university would have outstanding grades. I have met lots of students here who haven't got a grade lower than A since elementary school. You can complain about the system here but those student jumped through the hoops presented to them. My assumption is that the majority of those transcripts are accurate. Why do people always have to assume the worst about Koreans (sigh).