My impression from reading the article is that the gap between the lifestyles you can expect if you get into college or not is really wide in China. It seemed t

My impression from reading the article is that the gap between the lifestyles you can expect if you get into college or not is really wide in China. It seemed to mark the difference between comfortable white-collar work or being a laborer, with nothing much in between. If Chinese society were a hospital, it would have surgeons and janitors and nothing else. Perhaps the parents who were interviewed for the article overstated the difference, but here in Canada the situation is a bit different for a couple of reasons. First, we send so many students to college that getting into and through the less prestigious colleges isn't particularly impressive. Second, the jobs available to those who couldn't quite make it into college are still pretty good. Electricians, mechanics, locksmiths, and paralegals don't come cheap around here. So there's a lot less pressure all around.