Information Asymmetry: Why It Makes Us Easy Targets

For instance, many students attending universities in China are unaware that pathways actually exist to transfer from regular institutions into 211 or 985 universities in certain cities.

In Shanghai, an officially sanctioned “Shanghai Transfer Exam” policy allows full-time first-year undergraduate students at Shanghai’s regular higher-education institutions to sit for the exam—provided they have good conduct, good health, and have successfully completed their first year with passing grades. (Other universities typically only allow internal major transfers.)

Consider a test-taker who originally aimed for Fudan University but missed the admission cutoff due to an underwhelming gaokao performance. Instead of enrolling elsewhere, he could enroll at a different Shanghai university and then enter Fudan through the transfer exam, ultimately graduating with a degree from Fudan.

The transfer process is essentially a formal change of institution, handled by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. Once admitted, a student’s academic record is transferred to the new university, and they receive the same rights and benefits—including graduation and degree certificates—as students who entered through the gaokao.

Some people believe that pulling strings might improve their chances, but this route is far more prone to scams. More often, students simply miss the opportunity because they never receive information about the exam in the first place.