Topic: University entrance exams: what you take, who runs it, and what else counts
How is it done in Indonesia?
Everyday topic
Undergraduate admission to Indonesia's state universities (PTN) runs on three tracks set out in Ministerial Regulation 48/2022 (amended by Regulation 62/2023), with two of the three handled centrally by the National New Student Admission Committee (SNPMB). SNBP (achievement-based selection) uses high-school report-card grades plus other academic and non-academic accomplishments — no test required — and each university must reserve at least 20% of its places for it. SNBT (test-based selection) is decided by the computer-based UTBK aptitude test, with a portfolio added for arts and sports programmes; service-agency-status state universities (PTN BLU/Satker) must set aside at least 40% of places for it, and corporatised state universities (PTNBH) at least 30%. The third track, Jalur Mandiri (independent selection), is run by each university on its own terms — up to 30% of places at PTN BLU/Satker and up to 50% at PTNBH — and can draw directly on a candidate's UTBK score.
What is this topic?
Taiwan sits its Scholastic Aptitude Test and Subject-Specific Test (both run by the CEEC) across three tracks with distinct rules: Application Admission caps the exam at half the final score, weighing the rest on portfolio and interview; Placement Admission ranks purely by exam score; and Star Recommendation goes on in-school class rank alone, no exam-based placement needed.
China runs the gaokao (coordinated nationally by the Ministry of Education, held every June 7–8) on a 750-point "3+1+2" structure, plus a separate 强基计划 that adds a campus test for basic-science talent.
Japan holds one national Common Test each January through the DNC, but national and public universities layer a second, university-run exam on top.
The United States has no national exam at all — the federal Department of Education has no authority over admissions — and the well-known SAT/ACT are private tests (College Board, ACT Inc.) that most selective schools weigh alongside GPA and essays; about 25% of four-year colleges had open admissions as of fall 2021.
India's National Testing Agency runs three separate exams by field: JEE Main (engineering, twice a year), NEET UG (medicine, once a year, now the sole basis for admission nationwide), and CUET UG (general undergraduate, once a year, already replacing Class 12 marks at roughly 48 central universities).
Indonesia's state universities split admission three ways — SNBP on report-card achievement (minimum 20% of seats), SNBT on the computer-based UTBK test (minimum 30–40%), and university-run Jalur Mandiri (up to 30–50%).
Brazil's ENEM, run once a year by INEP, feeds into SiSU for public-university places under a quota law, while state universities like USP and UNICAMP still run their own vestibular.
No two of the seven countries do it the same way — they differ in how many times a year, who administers it, and how much the score alone decides.
Sources and dates
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