
Five-year-old boy's 15-page CV grabs China online attention - kamaal
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46071811
======
tedmiston
The NYT article was more informative.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/world/asia/china-child-
re...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/world/asia/china-child-resume.html)

> Yong Zhao, a professor of education at the University of Kansas, said the
> debate reflected widespread anxiety among Chinese parents about getting
> their children into top schools. In China’s test-dominated system, exam
> scores determine where students go to college and what careers they can
> pursue.

It's easy to forget how different other education systems can be.

~~~
ianmcgowan
Not that different from the US, outside the hacker news bubble. I have a high
schooler and let’s just say there’s a lot of attention to three numbers right
now - GPA, SAT, and ACT. Those numbers will have an outsized impact on my
kid’s life. Granted though, that there are still paths to a happy life, but
just a little more “alternative”.

~~~
hoaw
I would agree. The west had a chance to reform their education systems to
become different with the new information age, but most countries choose not
to. In fact they have been going the other way. Today in most countries things
like housing, grades, connections and insurance are even more important than
it used to be. Turns out people really do not want to compete on similar terms
in the open market.

~~~
vfulco2
You nailed it. I continue to be shocked by the naivete of the West in all
things Asia--work practices, education, rule of law, protection of IP, role of
women in society. This after having lived and worked in Eastern China for 3
years. Those abroad just don't get it. And with such a behemoth as a world
partner, they aren't changing fast nor need to.

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olliej
I read CVs all the time. 15 pages is far too long, he needs to condense it
down to 2 pages max, and get a github account demonstrating his achievements.
:)

~~~
jimmaswell
Is a CV not supposed to be the long form, while a resume would be two pages
max?

~~~
village-idiot
Yes, but I’m under the impression that CVs are a few pages and more common for
academics with long publishing and speaking histories.

I’ve never seen a CV in the business world, but resumes are of course very
common.

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ashelmire
> The competition for seats at top schools in China is notoriously cutthroat.
> In some cities, the wealthy and well connected pay large sums of money,
> sometimes described as “donations,” to secure placements in top programs.

So... exactly like the US then? This is how every top tier university
operates. Ability to pay is something considered before acceptance for ALL
students; and children of major donors are guaranteed entrance. It's not any
different at earlier levels of education in the US either - it's pay to play.

~~~
adventured
No, not exactly like the US. Rather, it's similar for some schools. The US,
fortunately, has a vast number of extraordinary universities.

At MIT for example, tied for the third best US university [1], they rank #137
on the median family income level among universities. That places them behind
such schools as the University of Dallas, Virginia Tech and the University of
Charleston.

Columbia is tied for the third best ranked US university. It ranks #89 on
median family income. Those students are largely not elite rich families
buying their way in.

The University of Chicago is also tied for third best US university. They rank
#138 on median family income. Behind the university of Scranton, UNC Chapel
Hill, and Xavier.

Cornell is ranked as the #16 US university, and comes in #87 in median family
income.

California Institute of Technology is ranked #12. They're #105 on the median
family income metric.

UCLA is ranked #19 in US universities, and ranks #353 on median family income
among universities.

UC Berkely is tied for being the 22nd best university in the US. It ranks #214
on median family income, behind Babson, Mountain Saint Mary's, Vermont, and
Willamette.

Carnegie Mellon is the #25 US university. They're ranked #81 for median family
income.

Emory is the #21 US university, and ranks #120 on median family income.

The University of Florida is ranked #36 in US universities, and comes in #322
in median family income. You can go there for $6,000 per year in-state.

There are two dozen other top 50 schools I can add to this list, that rank far
below what you'd expect on median family income.

[1] [https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-
unive...](https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities)

~~~
ashelmire
This article (and I) wasn’t talking about median income. At any of the schools
you just named, a significant donation means your child is attending. How do
you think they afford to give scholarships to so many students?

~~~
adventured
The article and the quote you reference, says that competition for placement
is "notoriously cutthroat" and the rich often buy their way in because
placement is so limited.

That isn't the case in the US among most of the top 25 or top 50 schools. You
can buy your way in to some of those schools, for most of them you do not have
to. That's the fundamental difference. The top 50 US schools overwhelmingly
consist of middle class and middle-upper class students.

~~~
ashelmire
Ok, you don’t have to buy your way in. But being ranked 300 in median family
income out of 3000 universities isn’t exactly encouraging. Even at the schools
you mentioned, most students still come from the top 20%, save UCLA and
Florida, with 48%.

~~~
adventured
It means to hit the median family income at those universities you have to
come from the top edge of the middle class at least, that is true. That's not
very surprising given we're talking about the median at very highly ranked
schools. It's moving the goal posts quite a bit given the difference vs the
elite rich having to buy their way in due to scarcity.

If you want to dramatically improve your odds of family success in the US, you
want to roughly be in the top half of the middle class bracket or above. At
least based on school access.

A lot of the top 50 universities do as well or better at accepting bottom 20%
income bracket students, as second tier schools do. For reference, share of
students coming from the bottom 20% income bracket (ie poor):

UCLA 8.3%; UC Berkely 7.3%; MIT 6.2%; NYU 6.1%; Florida 6%; Chicago 5.5%;
Columbia 5.1%; Rice 4.9%; USC 4.9%; Harvard 4.5%; Boston U 4.2%; Brown 4.1%;
Stanford 4%; Carnegie Mellon 4%; Duke 3.9%; Tulane 3.9%; Northwestern 3.7%;
Michigan 3.6%

Lower ranked schools (but still top ~15%):

Rutgers 6.8%; Illinois 6.1%; Texas 6%; UMass 5.8%; Florida St 5.3%; Michigan
St 5%; Oklahoma 5%; Ohio St 5%; Oregon 4.7%; Georgia Tech 4.6%; Oklahoma St
4.4%; Oregon St 4.3%; NC State 4.3%; Texas Tech 4.1%; Washington St 4%;
Arkanas 4%; Texas A&M 4%; Alabama 4%; Pitt 3.7%; Minnesota 3.5%; Kansas 3.2%;
Kansas St 3.2%; Iowa St 3.2%; Illinois St 3%; Auburn 2.6%; Virginia Tech 2.3%

As a percentage, Chicago takes as many poor students as Oregon St; MIT takes
more than NC State; Harvard takes as many as George Tech; Stanford takes more
than Kansas St. And so on.

The schools that rank badly on high median family income and low access for
poor students are who you'd expect: Princeton, Yale, Vanderbilt, etc. Notre
Dame is a particular standout for being terrible, with a median income at
$191,000 and only taking 1.6% from the bottom 20% income bracket.

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nixarian
I can't wait to bring china-like jobs to the united states. it will be good,
honest!

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iwiririwo
tl;dr bullshit social media story picked up by other media

