The main issue was not the general admission being itself corrupt (though I can't imagine you could not get a top party member child in if you wanted). The mai

The main issue was not the general admission being itself corrupt (though I can't imagine you could not get a top party member child in if you wanted). The main issue was that anyone the state was not comfortable with was banned from higher education, including their children. Have any connection to the pre-communist politics, be involved in religion, be reported by your neighbors as speaking against the regime or just got in the way of someone i power - congratulation comrade, you and your children (regardless of how gifted) are now second class, can't go to university & are relegated to second class jobs, for ever! And this basically applied to everything the communist state could miss-use to award or punish people - jobs, internal and foreign travel, housing, being able to do art or write books, etc. And any time the single party that could never do any wrong decided to punish you - there was no recourse.