Analysis of Differences Between China’s Gaokao System and the U.S. College Admissions System and Suggestions for Improvement

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-585-0_62How to use a DOI?

Keywords

American Universities; Chinese Universities; Higher Education; Institutional Change

Abstract

Differences in higher education admission systems are due to differences in national context. Globally, there are two types of systems: merit-based and holistic admissions. Countries such as the UK, South Korea and China tend to place greater emphasis on the score of an exam when making admissions decisions whereas other countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Germany prioritize non-cognitive skills, like Japan and the US, some countries emphasize a balanced assessment using different methods such as exam score, recommendation letters, extracurricular activities, and interview for university admission. China and the US have the greatest differences and, therefore, represent this type of circumstance most completely. In order to facilitate better comprehension, this paper first outlines the reasons behind the different circumstances and methods utilized for admissions in China and the US; secondly, analyzes drawbacks within each side; finally, offering localized solutions through absorption of respective strengths from each approach to that end.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Xiaoke Lu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/18
TI  - Analysis of Differences Between China’s Gaokao System and the U.S. College Admissions System and Suggestions for Improvement
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 International Conference on Hybrid Commerce, Human Capital, and Economic Dynamics (ICHCH 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 560
EP  - 564
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-585-0_62
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-585-0_62
ID  - Lu2026
ER  -