A Few Things My Daughter Does NOT Know about My Gaokao in 1987
2014-06-05
Just two days later, my daughter will be sitting for her gaokao, or college entrance examination. We've been talking about some details for the day that her class teacher has kindly reminded us at the recent PA meeting. Whenever I don't seem to follow her, she exclaims, "My Goodness, have you gaokaoed before?," meaning I should have known better. Having been tipped off by a friend majoring in psychoanalysis that all kids have to "kill" (symbolically, of coz ) their parents to grow up, I am actually more than happy to see my 17-year-old playing smarter. Yet she needs to be taught about a few things, doesn't she? I am also an educator above all. To do my job, I've easily come up with this list of things that my daughter does not know about my gaokao in 1987.
Trivia
1. My parents didn't not have to check out details about my gaokao. In fact they didn't even know where my school was. (To better prepare my daughter for her gaokao, I had to rent an apartment near her school 2 years ago).
2. I kept my own pass to the test room of my gaokao. (My daughter's pass has been kept by her class teacher until the last minute).
3. I walked over to my test school and lived in a dorm there for 2 nights with other students I didn't know. (My daughter is to be driven back and forth, refusing even to stay over in a hotel nearby with me as a roommate).
4. My gaokao lasted for 3 days and in early July (7,8,9) when it was real hot in the room yet with the fan turned off to avoid the noise.
NON-TRIVIA
1. My gaokao was the ONLY entrance ticket for me to leave the dungeon of a rustic life and enter the elitist club of urban citizens. Basically, it means a given job, a given room/apartment provided by your working unit free of charge, and free medical care. Wasn't it heaven then, and now? !
2. All high school graduates were tested on the same paper for the same subject, but the same score did NOT gurantee the same university or same level of university. In the year of 1987, the entrance score for applicants of liberal arts in Beijing was 430, and 493 in Hunan, the score of which might have sent the applicants to Peking University. Alas, I was, and still am, a Hunanese and ended up in a local college.
3. My parents didn't have to worry about my tuition, for I chose to go to the tuition-free military university or normal university. My daughter chose to go to NYU Shanghai and if she gets lucky in gaokao, I'll have to ask for loans for the annual tuition of RMB 100,000 plus living expenses.
So fascinating to learn about the old gao kao process. It is too bad your daughter does not understand your struggles. There is a Bill Cosby quote about how he has trouble relating to his children because he grew up poor, but his children grew up rich. Different worlds.
Thank you ~~ Yes, I've heard about Nottingham U in Ningbo and Liverpool U in Xi'an. The thing is she got a NYU family member card a few years ago when I was a visiting scholar there , and she felt she just has to go to this one for the connection. Also I figure this way she gets to keep up her Chinese ties:-) . FYI, NYU Shanghai actualy admits 51% Chinese students. She met a senior from Brooklyn during her campus weekend in March for the interview:-)
Well, NYU as you know is a very high tuition university in USA. It is a very good one, of course! The 100,000 rmb a year which was set. For Chinese nationals to attend, is already a subsidized rate in fact. The goal is 50% Chinese nationals and 50% foreigners! including NYU own students from USA who will pay much more.
Yet traditional British universities are cheaper and there are long established campuses like Nottingham University in Ningbo and Liverpool University in XI'an that are worth investigating.
So If the scores are good enough and the financing achievable, go for it. Yet it is not the only option and some study in USA is actually cheaper.
Best of luck!
Wow. NYU Shanghai in the Lujiazui Financial District of Pudong! A brand new center donated by the Shanghai Municipal Government to attract so famous an American University to the site after they move this summer from NYU Shanghai old site in East China Normal University. I was standing outside the old site last week! Well, I wish you luck but there are cheaper alternatives! Let us know how it goes!
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