| A second difference lies in society's attitude toward university education. In South Korea, competition to gain admittance to a prestigious university is intense. This competition results in an incredible amount of studying, dedication, and self-sacrifice as students do almost nothing but study for examinations. Parents feel this pressure as well and start training their children at a very young age for the eventual university exams. Thus, students feel pressure from their parents, their peers, and society in general. North American students may feel a comparable amount of pressure they want to enter a school such as Harvard or Yale, but the average Canadian or American student does not have to deal with the societal pressure common in South Korea. | | |
| The school systems of South Korea, Canada, and the United States are about the same in two areas: the age when students start school and the number of years they go to school. However, in the field of education, there are several notable differences between South Korea on the one hand and Canada and the United States on the other. | | |
| When people talk about the educational differences between South Korea and Canada and the United States, they often focus on obvious differences such as school uniforms or extracurricular activities. However, these superficial differences are not nearly as important as the differences in the hours of study, society's attitude toward education, and scholarships. Despite these differences, the educational systems in all three countries continue to produce thousands of successful college graduates each year. | | |
| Finally, opportunities for university scholarships are very different in these countries. In Canada and the United States, there are academic scholarships, athletic scholarships, and scholarships for minority students. This allows for all types of students to take advantage of higher education at little or no cost. In South Korea, however, the most prevalent type of scholarship is the academic type. Sports skills, ethnic background, and other non-academic matters do not play a role in the awarding of university scholarships. | | |
| First, the number of hours of study and formal training that Korean students go through in order to enter a university is much greater than that of either Canadians or Americans. People say that it is easy to graduate from a Korean university, but the really hard part is getting into the university in the first place. Because it's so difficult to get into a university in South Korea, most students not only attend their regular classes but also attend special "cram" schools for a few hours in the morning or afternoon. As a result high school students in South Korea have fifty-five to sixty hours of instruction each week. This is in stark contrast to the situation in Canada and the United States, where secondary school students attend school less than thirty-five hours a week. In these North American countries, the most difficult years begin at age eighteen and don't let up until age twenty-two. | | |