Last week, 600,000 South Korean students took an exam that will determine the future course of their lives - the ultimate goal being to reach the SKY.

In a country where students, not babies are born, young children are prepped, schooled, coddled and groomed to take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). From a tender age children, and their parents, are shooting for acceptance into one of the so-called "big three" Korean universities.

Seoul National University (SNU), Korea University and Yonsei University are collectively nicknamed SKY. Getting into one of these institutions is considered a South Korean student's crowning life achievement. Not only will successful students have the best academic pedigree in the country, they will also have a strong alumni network that tends to be biased in hiring and mentoring grads from their alma mater. Even their currency as a marriage partner increases as a SKY graduate.

The national obsession that revolves around higher education is focused on getting a near perfect score on the CSAT, along with having top grades in school. Parents start their children on the educational track early on in an assortment of pre-schools that offer numerous early childhood learning programs that guarantee they will mold the brains of junior geniuses. Some are worthy, many are dubious.

A college entrance exam in many other countries usually generates only a shrug but on CSAT day in South Korea, intensity hangs in the air. Under government orders, businesses reschedule the workday so employees alleviate the traffic conditions for students heading to testing sites.

The National Police Agency asks motorists not to honk their horns near schools and teams of volunteers and special police units work as traffic managers. The US military halts live-fire training and aviation missions to give test-takers quiet time. The South Korean stock market opens late and closes early. This year, even the aggressive farmers protesting the rice market opening agreed to mellow out for the day.

In the lead-up to the test, nervous mothers pray for that extra edge on the CSAT. In the weeks before the exam, many visit Buddhist temples with photos of their children to be placed on the altar. They bow an auspicious number of times. Christian churches also push spirituality as a means for CSAT success by organizing prayer meetings and candlelight vigils.

The morning of the test, teary-eyed mothers kiss their sons and daughters as they enter the school. Younger students hold signs wishing good luck and victory to their older friends. Slapped onto some school gates is yut, a sticky candy that is symbolic of the Korean verb that means to stick, a colloquialism for getting one's name "stuck" to a top university. The night before, some of the bolder and desperate students rip off an "S" from the metal nameplates on Hyundai Sonatas or Ssangyong trucks. The "S" stands for Seoul National University.

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Copyright © James Card.