Chinese students and families fight for the right to cheat their exams

I actually have a lot to say about it, but this great Baffler piece, Adam Wheeler Went to Harvard, says it best: http://thebaffler.com/past/adam_wheeler_went_to_harvard.

Then, I would add a snippet from this Thomas Frank article[1] in Harper's:

After all, what universities were selling then, and what they are selling today, is an extremely valuable commodity: entry into what sociologists call the professional managerial class. There’s a reason that Lexus LX 570 that almost ran you down in the crosswalk the other day had a harvard sticker neatly centered on its rear window. And it isn’t because the driver believes we would all profit from immersing ourselves in theories of intersectionality, or because of a lifelong attachment to Crimson field hockey. That sticker is there because Harvard is a crucial part of who that SUV driver is. A college degree from a prestigious school is the credential that matters most in American life, and growing college-enrollment figures suggest that an increasing number of Americans have figured this out.

[1]: http://harpers.org/archive/2012/06/the-price-of-admission/ (subscribers only)

You should read up on the City of London Corporation.[1][2][3][4]

[1] - http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2013/04/mysterious-residen...

[2] - http://streebgreebling.blogspot.com/2011/04/state-within-sta...

[3] - http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/02/london-corporati...

[4] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London_Corporation

One interesting thing I've noticed is with assignments we have strict anti-plagiarism checks which always seem to be emphasised for foreign students. We have quite a few students from China and India on our courses and it's almost like it's a special mention for them. Several times lecturers have made reference to different cultures having an expectation of plagiarism, and I've spoken to academics who say it is a very common thing from foreign students.

With my A-Levels (end of high-school exams) I felt like I was learning material that I would need to know for my university course, and my university entrance was conditional on the grades I achieved.

Having been at uni for 3 years now, it has confirmed this for me. I had friends in high-school who didn't study maths, and they wouldn't have managed the CS course at my university. I wouldn't have managed it without the A-Level grades I got (or slightly below them).

I also think that my degree matters quite a lot. To me it's a piece of paper that says I have a reasonable competency in computer science, and anyone who has a brief look at the syllabus should see that I will be of a certain level of ability.

It is possible to self-teach yourself much of computer science, but when I talk to other people of a similar age to me who have self-taught and not gone to university, I don't want to come across as cocky, but the gap in knowledge appears very significant to me. After 5 years working I'm sure my degree won't matter much, but I think it will give me a big head start on knowledge and understanding.

Mainland Chinese society at all levels is thoroughly corrupt and its pretty much impossible to achieve what a reasonable observer would recognize as a materially successful life within the PRC without being actively involved in corruption.

Even simply to muddle along and live hand-to-mouth, content to have most of the doors to success either closed to them from the get-go or slammed in their face, a regular Mainland person has to turn a blind eye to a steady stream of illegal, unethical, and downright harmful behavior on the part of their peers.

That's a part of why (along with many other factors) many Mainland citizens are eager to emigrate to pretty much anywhere that's not the PRC.