Entrance exam season is here again. All over the country, students hoping to enter universities are showing their ID cards, sitting down at desks and answering question after question. The hope and anxiety of many young people and their families, not to mention that of their teachers and principals, is palpable throughout the country. The exam results determine the direction of people's entire lives.

That said, the exam system has been changing, and generally in positive directions. Significant steps taken in recent years are beginning to reform this pivotal educational dilemma. As the total number of students has dropped — and many simply refuse to suffer through a system they find meaningless — universities have had to respond with changes of their own.

Already, most schools offer more than one route into their classrooms. Students can now choose between AO (admissions office) exams, school recommendations and self-recommendations with essays and interviews. The exam schedules have been loosened as well, making it somewhat easier to try again after failing one exam. Individual departments have obtained more leeway to create their own distinctive type of exam. The domineering system of the past has become somewhat flexible and slightly more human.