Despite his success, Wang now feels he went too far in his quest for acceptance.

"I now regret spending so much money on a US high school because I feel that intensive training at a Chinese high school could have helped me acquire just as much basic knowledge," he said.

High standards

This year the University of New Hampshire will join other schools－such as Brigham Young University, the University of San Francisco and the Illinois Institute of Technology－in accepting gaokao scores in lieu of SAT or ACT (American College Testing) qualifications as entry criteria.

"The gaokao will replace the SAT or ACT (for Chinese students). However, admissions standards have not changed, and they remain high," said Erika Mantz, executive director of media relations at the University of New Hampshire.

"Only students who meet the university's expectations and demonstrate a readiness for university-level work will be accepted."

The college's website stipulates that in addition to a good gaokao score, Chinese high school graduates are required to have an interview, submit the score they achieved in the TOEFL test or the International English Language Testing System, and provide transcripts of tests they took in high school.

A similar program provided by the University of San Francisco has accepted 33 Chinese students through their gaokao scores since it was established in 2015.

"Collectively, the students who entered the University of San Francisco via the gaokao admission program have achieved considerably higher results than Chinese students admitted through the traditional admissions process," said Jason Opdyke, assistant vice-president for international admissions at the university.

"The combined grade point average of the gaokao students is nearly six-tenths of a point higher than the Chinese students who applied through the traditional admissions process," he added.

"The gaokao admission program has been a success so far. We have met our goal of enrolling an average of five to 10 students per year, and as a collective group they are outperforming our other Chinese students by a considerable margin. The type of students we have targeted are bright students who are clearly prepared to succeed at the highest academic levels."

Additional benefits

Many universities in Hong Kong, Europe, Australia and Canada, including the prestigious University of Toronto, already recognize the gaokao as an admission criterion.

For most Chinese, especially those from less-privileged backgrounds, a high gaokao score is their only way of significantly altering their fate.

The way to gain a high score is to study, study and study some more at every possible hour. In fact, many students opt to finish their high school studies in the sophomore year and cram for the gaokao for the whole of the following year.