The South Korean wealth disparity is insane

[theblueprints]

First off, South Korea has arguably one of the most cutthroat academics in the country. Most parents start signing their kids up for "Hagwons" which is private after-school academics that provide education ranging from Math, English, Art, History etc. In fact, most parents start signing their kids up for these classes as early as pre-school in hopes of sending their kid to a good college. One singular test determines how people view you, what college you get into, and your future. This is why the "Hagwon" industry is so successful, because its pretty much determining your life. The richest parents are going to be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, potentially millions, throughout your childhood. Its completely incomparable to the ACT or SAT, because standardized testing only counts for a part of your application( you can go to good colleges through other means) whereas in South Korea, this is pretty much your whole application.

You probably think that these "Hagwons" are similar to traditional American SAT/ACT tutors, but that could not be further from the truth. Unlike ACT/SAT tutors, these Hagwons are extremely intense in the sense that students stay at these tutoring sessions from after school to 3 am. Now imagine repeating this process for multiple years. Don't even bother self-studying because you wont be able to compete with those who are receiving the best of the best tutoring classes. You just wont be able to.

Now you probably think "Fuck academics, I'll just fucking sacrifice it to mog these kids" Oh boy wait until you hear this:
60% of South Korean kids use HGH for height, not health.
97% percent of growth hormone prescriptions are paid for privately

Crazy how people on this forum will complain about how mainstream this is, genuinely imagine 60% of other kids you know using HGH

So imagine how hard it is to break out of this cycle if you're poor. Just a perpetual cycle of shit scores, shit height, etc. Arguably one the most capitalistic countries. If you don't have the wealth, you cant compete. Wealth/status #1 here by a longshot.

If you're also an American reading this thinking "I'm probably as smart as these guys because of muh AP classes or muh 36 ACT" The bottom 20% of kids there would dominate the top 20 percent of kids here.


Let me know your thoughts, and maybe any other countries you know where its worse
@케이제이 @Jason Voorhees

 

[theblueprints]

bump

 

[케이제이]

this is true

back in school we usually stayed up even past hagwon hours, studying up until 3 - 4 am, getting up going to school half asleep, this is why you also see students sleeping during class lol, but this is what you had to do, grading is also relative so youre competing against your peers and this sort of mentality never ends

korea is a country where everything matters and if you dont have it then you're nothing

really theres no way out unless you study abroad and secure a job (my plan) or somehow find a decent workplace that isnt run with shitty boomer traditions and culture

 

[theblueprints]

this is true

back in school we usually stayed up even past hagwon hours, studying up until 3 - 4 am, getting up going to school half asleep, this is why you also see students sleeping during class lol, but this is what you had to do, grading is also relative so youre competing against your peers and this sort of mentality never ends

korea is a country where everything matters and if you dont have it then you're nothing

really theres no way out unless you study abroad and secure a job (my plan) or somehow find a decent workplace that isnt run with shitty boomer traditions and culture

good luck my bro

 

[lastofus123]

this is sometimes why I don't trust the claims that east asians are somehow inherently smarter because like these people will obviously know about stuff if they spend like 13 hours a day studying but from what i hear, a lot of it is mostly rote learning which doesnt translate well to applying it in real life which is where the west excels

 

[lastofus123]

I also hear for the hagwons that theres a new law where apparently the hagwons can stay open for as long as they like unlike before where they had to close up at 10:30 as well

 

[케이제이]

this is sometimes why I don't trust the claims that east asians are somehow inherently smarter because like these people will obviously know about stuff if they spend like 13 hours a day studying but from what i hear, a lot of it is mostly rote learning which doesnt translate well to applying it in real life which is where the west excels

yeah everyone just studies the exam and how to pass it

honestly cant remember most shit i studied

 

[theblueprints]

this is sometimes why I don't trust the claims that east asians are somehow inherently smarter because like these people will obviously know about stuff if they spend like 13 hours a day studying but from what i hear, a lot of it is mostly rote learning which doesnt translate well to applying it in real life which is where the west excels

Yeah, none of it really has real world implications.Just kinda sad the amount of pressure and mental health struggles.

Imagine sleeping only a couple hours a day when it matters most.

 

[Jgns]

damn kim jungs gt take over asap then

 

[kisslessvirgin]

why would you care

 

[Foreverbrad]

I don’t think this is where we are headed.