Topic: University entrance exams: what you take, who runs it, and what else counts
How is it done in Taiwan?
Everyday topic
Taiwan's university admission runs on two layers: the College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test (學測, every January) and the Subject-Specific Test (分科測驗, every July), feeding three separate tracks. Application Admission (個人申請) filters first on 學測 scores, then a second round weighs the learning portfolio, interview and skills test, with 學測 counting for at most half the final score. Placement Admission (考試分發) ranks applicants purely by 分科測驗 or 學測 scores from high to low, with no school record or interview involved. Star Recommendation (繁星推薦) nominates students by their in-school class rank across five semesters (from the first year through the first semester of the third year), combined with a 學測 threshold, and requires no interview except for medicine and dentistry. The three tracks are mutually exclusive: admission through one bars an applicant from the other two that year.
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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