Gaokao taker urged to lower sights after 16th attempt

Two people who have taken China's national college entrance exam, known as the gaokao in Chinese, more than a dozen times received mixed results this year.

Tang Shangjun, who took the test for a 16th time, scored more than 600 points out of 750 and plans to apply for a top-tier teachers' school in Beijing. But Liang Shi, who sat for a 28th time, got 446 points and fell short of his target once more.

Tang, who took the gaokao in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, said in a livestreaming session on Tuesday that he scored "more than 600 points", although he did not reveal the exact score to avoid "complicating admission matters". He said he would probably apply for Beijing Normal University, or other teachers' schools.

He scored 594 points last year and applied for Huazhong Normal University, but was denied admission after he refused to be reallocated to other majors when the ones he preferred were filled by higher-scoring candidates.

In previous years, he had been admitted by universities including Xiamen University, Guangxi University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, but he turned them all down because he was fixated on entering Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University.

Sun Chenghou, a senior adviser for the Hengshui Education Group in Hebei province who sponsored Tang's studies during the past year at a high school affiliated with the group, told Tide News that Tang's obsession was partly due to his limited knowledge, as he was unaware that you can apply to change your major in college, and that it would be slightly easier to apply for elite universities as a postgraduate if one really has the gift.

Sun said Tang had kept a low profile for the past year, and had studied in Hengshui under a pseudonym. He and other teachers had helped Tang "untangle" his obsession with Tsinghua, and set Beijing Normal University as a more realistic target. He added that he would persuade Tang to accept being reassigned if his score fell short of his intended major.

He said he would arrange a part-time teaching job for Tang if he goes to college, and that the group would offer him a full-time job after he graduates.

Since 1983, Liang has sat for the exam as long as he was eligible and had time. He even took the test together with his son in 2011. However, he never scored enough, or even got close, to making it to his dream school — Sichuan University.

Before the test this year, he said it would be his last attempt, as the form of the exam will change next year and he feared there would be "too many uncertainties".

His score this year was 11 short of the threshold needed to go to a second-tier university in the province, let alone first-tier Sichuan University.

"It was progress from last year's 424, but it makes no difference," he told Xinhuanghe, the Jinan Times' news website. "I can't say what will happen next year, and don't ask me."

China's education authorities canceled the age cap of 25 for the gaokao in 2001, allowing anyone with a high school diploma to sit the exam. However, some schools and majors still apply age limits when processing admissions.