University Entrance Exams from the Perspective of Senior High School Students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore senior high school students’ feelings and thoughts about the university entrance exam. A total of 23 senior high school students, 14 girls and 8 boys between the ages of 17 and 18, participated in this qualitative study. Research data were collected between February and March 2015 through face to face semi-structured interviews. Three themes were identified as a result of the analysis: “anxiety”, “family expectations and responsibilities”, and “the door to the future”. When participants were asked to think about the university entrance exam, they stated that they experienced fear, despair, concern, helplessness and panic, which are all emotional dimensions of anxiety. Furthermore, some participants perceived the exams as an all-or-nothing issue and felt that the expectations of their families from them create a serious burden on their shoulders. Participants associated university entrance exams with living creatures, objects or characters such as “a dog”, “a cactus” or “a bug”, to name a few. And finally, participants regarded the exam as a “door” that opens to their future, conceiving it as an opportunity.