Entrance Exams Elsewhere -- 2

Turkey:

The Student Selection Exam (ÖSS), required for acceptance into universities throughout Turkey, was held yesterday for the final time in its current format. A total of 1,349,423 students left home early in the morning on Sunday to take the ÖSS, which began at 9:30 a.m. throughout the country as well as in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC).

The exam lasted for 195 minutes, with the candidates trying to answer a total of 180 questions. This year's exam was made up of eight tests, each with 30 questions. For students applying to programs with no graduate level, the first four tests were sufficient. Students applying to programs that do have graduate levels, on the other hand, had to take the first four tests and an additional two tests in the fields they were applying to.

Parents began a tense wait after the students were taken into the exam rooms. Some parents could be seen reading the Quran and praying, perhaps that their children successfully pass the exam and have a chance to study at their preferred universities.

Hatice Güllüce, one of the mothers whose daughter took the exam in the eastern province of Erzurum, said her daughter studied for the exam for a whole year and now it was time to support her daughter through her prayers. She said she also prayed for all the other students to perform well in the exam.