Candidates Arrive

The back of the newspaper clearly listed the various majors and enrollment quotas for Australian National University. There were five majors in total, with eight hundred places.

Although Arthur had specifically allowed the quota to expand to around fifteen hundred, after careful consideration, President Wilfred Freeman Weinberg still limited this round of admissions to eight hundred students.

Although the equipment and funding were entirely sufficient, Australian National University was still at a disadvantage when it came to faculty. If too many students were admitted, it would inevitably affect both their learning efficiency and the quality of teaching.

What Wilfred Freeman Weinberg wanted to build was a world-class university. Naturally, that could not be accomplished in a short time, much less achieved simply by setting an enrollment quota.

This also meant that the competition for admission would be extraordinarily fierce. At Arthur's call, it was likely that most eligible Australians would sign up.

Under such circumstances, only the eight hundred most outstanding students could be selected to enter the university. That alone showed how fierce the competition for admission would be.

On October 17, after more than half a month of preparations, the entrance examination for Australian National University was about to begin.

To make things easier for the candidates who had traveled from all over the country, Arthur had specifically announced that free lodging and food would be provided for all candidates until the examination ended.

By the day before the official examination, more than thirteen thousand people had registered, over half of them candidates from other states.

As the examination drew near, the streets of Sydney were filled with the figures of these candidates. To prepare for what might be a very difficult examination, they swept through Sydney's few bookstores and newspaper stalls, trying to find even a shred of information that might appear on the exam.

Sydney, the residential district on Central Street.

This area had originally consisted of several family residential buildings belonging to the Sydney City Government. They had been left vacant after a relocation, and Arthur had temporarily commandeered them as lodging for the candidates.

To make it more convenient for the candidates to live and rest, the buildings had been divided into rooms of roughly equal size. There were about a thousand such small rooms available for them.

But compared with the number of candidates taking the examination, there were still far too few rooms. Therefore, candidates from near Sydney could only be temporarily inconvenienced and return home to rest, while the precious rooms were reserved for candidates from other states and regions.

Thus, with six or seven people crammed into each room, more than ten thousand candidates were finally settled in Sydney.

It was now the day before the examination. Most of the candidates had given up on reviewing and chosen to stroll around Sydney or simply relax.

Only a small portion were still cramming at the last minute, hoping to encounter questions that might appear on the examination during this one remaining day and give themselves a little more certainty.

Inside one of the rooms in the residential buildings.

"John, what do you think this entrance examination will cover? The knowledge we learned in high school?" John Wilsher lay on his little bed, gazing at his roommate with eager anticipation and wild fantasies.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, you're rambling again, John." The boy named Sam complained helplessly, though he never stopped turning the pages of his book.

"Hey, Sam, stop flipping through those useless books, brother. Sydney really is much more prosperous than Western Australia. Why don't we go out and take a walk to clear our heads? You might even run into a beautiful girl and fulfill your father's wish for you to get married early." John jumped off the bed and looked at Sam with an expression that clearly said he was waiting for a good show.

"Stop it, John. Haven't I told you? As a proud Australian, all I want is to study hard and then build Australia. As the Duke of Australia, His Highness not only hasn't taken any benefits from Australia, but has instead selflessly used his own funds to aid all Australians and help Australia. Under these circumstances, shouldn't we study hard and then repay Duke for his kindness?" Sam slapped his good friend's hand off his shoulder as he patiently explained.

"I never said we shouldn't repay His Highness, mate. But don't you think we should also balance work and rest? Only by resting properly can we study properly, right?" Seeing that his friend was giving him no face at all, John could only say this sullenly.

"All right, John. This is Sydney, the capital of Australia. I know you're curious about everything here, but don't you think that if we successfully get into the university, we'll be able to stay here permanently?" Sam patted his friend on the shoulder in turn and continued, "You know that there are only eight hundred places this time. But judging from the current situation, there will probably be at least several thousand applicants, perhaps even more. If we fail to get in and have to slink back home, that'll be far more embarrassing than this."

"Oh, fine, Sam. You've convinced me, brother." John nodded helplessly and joined the army of students reviewing their lessons.

Similar conversations were taking place in many rooms throughout the residential buildings. In this era, most people who could successfully graduate from high school had some talent for studying and came from reasonably well-off families.

Although this examination had not emphasized competition, high school students were hardly common in Australia, and as high school graduates, they still possessed a measure of pride. At the very least, they did not want to fall behind others in a competition like this.

There were, however, some exceptions. After all, Sydney was the most developed city in New South Wales, while New South Wales was Australia's most developed and most populous state.

These candidates, barely eighteen or nineteen years old, had traveled to Sydney from every corner of Australia. Most of them had never seen a major city before.

Under such circumstances, it was hardly strange for these candidates to develop the urge to go out and look around. In fact, it was perfectly natural.

In Australia as it currently stood, the families of these high school graduates were generally fairly well-off, above Australia's poverty line.

Their arrival had also boosted Sydney's economic development to some extent, adding a spark of momentum to Sydney's already-weak retail and tourism industries.

Still, most people chose to continue reviewing. After all, in this era, university was a lofty and prestigious term. University graduates were generally the descendants of nobles and capitalists, or exceptionally important talents.

In Australia especially, the only way to become a university student was to study abroad. Not only did that require paying extremely expensive tuition and living costs, but one also needed to demonstrate truly outstanding ability.

But things were different now. As long as they successfully passed Australian National University's entrance examination, they could basically attend university for free and become genuine university students.

No one could resist such an temptation, not even young people who had already entered society and found jobs.

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