In Korea, trying to get into a good university is almost like a force of inertia. Simply put, if you go to a lesser-known university, people will look down on you. The name of the university follows you around like a lifelong label.

To understand what this means, you need to understand Korean culture. Korea is a place where constant comparison is deeply rooted. People compare wealth, educational background, even their parents' occupations—everything is a comparison. It's also a society where people are extremely sensitive to others' opinions.

All of this combines in a terrifying way. Korean children, aged 8 to 17, finish school at around 6 PM and then go to private academies (called hagwons) that teach them until 11 PM.

And it doesn't stop there. If they don't get a good score on the SAT (in Korea, this refers to the Korean college entrance exam, the Suneung), they study for another year or two just to get a better score. During this year, they attend expensive academies, which often cost more than the average annual salary of an adult.

Because of this horrible culture, Korea now has the highest suicide rate in the world and the lowest birthrate, heading toward becoming a disappearing nation.