SAT Takers Use Time Zone Differences to Cheat

Koreans studying in America are proving their scholastic aptitude by taking advantage of the time difference between Korea and the U.S. to cheat on their scholastic aptitude test or SAT. The SAT can be taken in eight places in Korea, with the rising number of candidates reaching 1,853 last year.

An 18-year-old student who gave his name as Park and studies at a high school in Connecticut said, "During the SAT in May, a friend of mine at Korea International School fed me some of the math and language questions, so I had an easy time with it." This is possible because, although test papers are only opened on the day, Korea is 14-17 hours ahead of the U.S. If student A, who finishes the SAT in Korea on the morning of May 7, at noon calls student B in Washington, where it is 10:00 p.m. on May 6, and gives him the questions on the test, student B can prepare for the test and get a good night’s sleep before the morning of May 7 arrives there. Bae, attending a school in Massachusetts, said, "On the May SAT, a friend of mine who took the test in Korea told me some of the questions, and they were exactly the same as the ones on the test I took."

Lee, 24, studies at a top university in the U.S. and tutors the SAT when he returns to Korea each vacation. He admits he too once fed the questions to a friend in the U.S. "Some of the students I tutor ask me to take the test here in Korea and call them in the States with the questions. I was really perplexed when even parents asked me to do that."

Song, 24, who also tutors the SAT in Seoul, said, "I can't guarantee that the SAT questions are exactly the same in Korea and the U.S., but perhaps like the Korean university entrance exam, there are only two or three test papers... There are 10 sections, and it seems they send the test papers after they mix up the order of the questions in each section or mix up the sections at random."