Earlier this year, a self-made millionaire in China took the gaokao exams for the 27th time.
Liang Shi (transliterated from Mandarin) had hoped to get into a first-tier university with his grades this year.
Unfortunately, his score has fallen short of the minimum grade required to enter even regular universities again.
Source: Sohu
The millionaire scored 424 out of 750 this year, three points lower than his attempt last year.
The 56-year-old is now considering whether to give up on his dreams of attending university.
According to Sohu, Mr Liang’s score was far from the Sichuan provincial baseline grade required to qualify for any university.
At 424 points, he is 103 points away from his dream of entering Sichuan University, which has a cut-off score of 527 this year.
Source: Sohu
Needless to say, the outcome was highly disappointing, as he had put in a lot of effort to achieve his dream, such as studying for over 12 hours daily at his friend’s teahouse courtyard.
Mr Liang told reporters that his biggest problem this year was being unable to perform well in the liberal arts segment of his exams — scoring only 56.5 in Political Studies and 46.0 for both History and Geography.
“The first half of the paper caused quite a delay. I was trying my best to write better, but I didn’t have enough time towards the end when there were only a few minutes left on the clock. There were still two big questions unanswered,” he related.
He also told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he expected himself not to do well enough to get into elite universities.
However, he did not expect that he would not make the cut into ordinary universities as well.
In his previous attempts, Mr Liang had always picked himself up after failures, remaining resolute that he would try again.
However, AFP shared that Mr Liang is having second thoughts after this year’s “regrettable” attempt.
Mr Liang admitted that he did not know if he would sign up for next year’s gaokao. He added, “If I can’t see much hope for improvement, there is no point in doing it again. I did work very hard every day.”
On the other hand, it is difficult for Mr Liang to imagine a life without gaokao preparation.
He noted,
It’s a difficult decision to make. I am not willing to give up either. (If I were to) stop taking gaokao, every cup of tea I drink for the rest of my life would taste of regret.
According to Sohu, however, next year’s attempt may be Mr Liang’s last chance to do well in the gaokao, as they are changing the examination format from 2025.
The new format will no longer be separated into the liberal arts and science streams, so the likelihood that Mr Liang will perform well enough to enter university is also lower.
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Featured image adapted from Sohu and 半岛都市报.
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