Jaesusaeng ( Korean: 재수생; Hanja: 再 修 生; lit. "restudy student") is a Korean term for graduated high school students who decide to spend a year studying to re-take the College Scholastic Ability Test, hoping to get a higher score and enter the university of their choice. [1] Attending university has a major impact on their future careers. [2] The equivalent term in Japan is rōnin.
Gaining entrance to the extremely competitive and prestigious SKY universities in Seoul requires that some students become jaesusaeng after an initial less-than-stellar performance on the national exam. Korea is "prepossessed by social status and reputation," and a SKY education is the main way to gain social status. [3]
Generally, the public education system is not enough to prepare students for the exam, so most students attend after school lessons at various hagwon ( cram schools). The fierce competition for enrollment at prestigious universities is called "entrance exam war" (입시전쟁; 入 試 戰 爭; ipsi jeonjaeng).
The stress from constant study and limited social life as a student have contributed to an increase in suicide in South Korea; for children aged 10 to 19 years old, suicide is the second most common cause of death in the country. [3]
When a student fails to earn an adequate score over 3 or more years, he may be derisively referred to as a jangsusaeng (장수생; 長 壽 生; lit. literally "long life student") a play on words from the expression "Please live a long life" said to elders (장수 하세요). Beginning around 2010, the word "N susaeng" (엔수생; N壽生) is in common use, wherein the Chinese character jang (長, meaning "long") is replaced with the Latin letter N, which represents the undefined number of times the student is taking the test.