Lop Nur University

Chen Zhao's reputation at school had completely spread.

Consecutively ranking first in the entire school twice, reciting the Great English-Chinese Dictionary from morning till night, forcing the principal to apologize to him, and all sorts of other rumors had added a thick layer of mystery to Chen Zhao. Almost every class of students would discuss Chen Zhao whenever they gathered during breaks or after meals.

In fact, one day while eating in the cafeteria, Chen Zhao even heard a few students at the table behind him gossiping:

"Hey, is that Chen Zhao eating at the table in front of us?"

"I think so. Shh, keep your voice down, don't let him hear."

"He's so awesome. He was always at the bottom of the rankings, then suddenly jumped to first place in one go. He was intentionally failing for three whole years!"

"Chen Zhao is simply an expert at playing the pig to eat the tiger."

"Do you think he can get into Peking University or Tsinghua University?"

"Are you kidding? He might not even be satisfied with Peking University or Tsinghua University. Top-tier institutions like Harvard University or Lop Nur University are the goals for elites like him."

As Chen Zhao listened, he felt something was a bit off.

He knew Harvard University; it was the world's number one in many university rankings, and its overall strength was definitely in the global top ten. But what the hell was Lop Nur University?

Was there even such a university?

Wasn't Lop Nur the place where they tested atomic bombs? Could they even build a university there?

Ever since he obtained the system and modified the world, many things in the world had changed, and that naturally included schools.

For example, on the way to school, Chen Zhao used to see a kindergarten. After modifying the world, the kindergarten disappeared and turned into a Cake Training Institute. A group of bakers in big white hats and white coats made cakes inside, and the chimneys filled the whole street with the scent of cake.

So, this Lop Nur University must also be a university that appeared after the world was modified.

If it were just an ordinary university, that would be one thing, but the key issue was that, judging by the students' discussion, it seemed this Lop Nur University... was much stronger than Peking University and Tsinghua University, perhaps even on the same level as Harvard University?!

Chen Zhao kept this matter in mind; after all, he still had to decide where to go to college after the college entrance exam. With his scores, he naturally wanted to find the best university possible.

Usually, phones weren't allowed in school, so he couldn't look up information. Once school ended for the day and Chen Zhao got home, he started searching online for this so-called "Lop Nur University."

He didn't know until he checked, but once he did, he was shocked!

This was an incredibly badass school!

In Chen Zhao's previous life, if you grabbed a kid on the street and asked them which was the best university in the country, about 50% would say Peking University, and 50% would say Tsinghua University. The status of Peking University and Tsinghua University was like the relationship between Pepsi and Coca-Cola, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, or lions and tigers—hard to distinguish, and evenly matched.

However, after the world was modified, if you grabbed a kid on the street now and asked them which was the best university in the country?

There was only one answer: Lop Nur University!

In this world, Lop Nur University was much more famous and much more powerful than Peking University and Tsinghua University. It was a private university located in the heart of Lop Nur, gathering famous scientists and professors from all over the world to serve as lecturers. Its annual teaching and experimental budget reached as high as 50 billion, which was higher than the budgets of Peking University and Tsinghua University combined. It was truly awesome!

Moreover, since its founding, Lop Nur University had already cultivated many successful people!

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There were 16 alumni who had won Nobel Prizes: four in Literature, six in Physiology or Medicine, two in Chemistry, three in Physics, and one in Peace.

There were also a large number of scientists, writers, pianists, musicians, famous directors, stock market gurus, high-ranking military officers, and even entrepreneurs with assets in the hundreds of billions.

In short, Lop Nur University was like a dragon gate; if a carp leaped over it, it could turn into a true dragon! Students who graduated from Lop Nur University would, with high probability, become truly successful people!

The more Chen Zhao read, the more excited he became. This was the ideal institution he wanted!

So the question arose: for such an awesome school, what score did one need on the college entrance exam to get in?

Chen Zhao opened a website about college entrance exam cut-off scores for major universities and clicked on Lop Nur University, only to find... no score?

In the column for historical admission cut-off scores, the data for Lop Nur University was "--", which meant no data.

Chen Zhao was puzzled. Logically speaking, every school should have a cut-off score. After enrolling new students each year, a school would publish three data points: the highest score, the lowest score, and the average score. The highest score was the student with the highest score admitted, the lowest score was the student who just barely made the cut, and the average score was the weighted result.

After the college entrance exam the following year, candidates could estimate whether they could be admitted based on the previous year's cut-off scores for each school.

For example, if the minimum cut-off score for Tsinghua University last year was 699, and you scored 102.

If you walked into the admissions office with your report card, the teacher from Tsinghua would say to you: "The construction site is out the door and to the left, thank you!"

Or, for example, if the minimum cut-off score for Peking University last year was 688, and you scored 700.

If you walked into the admissions office with your report card, the teacher from Peking University would pour you tea! You could choose between Longjing or Tieguanyin!

As long as a university wanted to successfully recruit students the following year, the cut-off score had to be published.

Why, then, did this Lop Nur University... have no cut-off score?

After searching carefully for a while, Chen Zhao finally understood the reason why Lop Nur University had no cut-off score—it didn't recruit through the college entrance exam, but based on specific conditions!

As long as you met the admission requirements of Lop Nur University, even if you didn't take the college entrance exam, or if you took it but scored a zero, you could still be admitted.

But conversely, if you didn't meet the admission requirements of Lop Nur University, even if you were the top scorer in the entire country, you still wouldn't be admitted and would have to settle for Peking University or Tsinghua University.

And to enter Lop Nur University and become a glorious student, there were two paths:

First, your parents were willing to donate over one billion in funding to Lop Nur University, and you could become a glorious student. It was equivalent to paying your way into the school. Half of Lop Nur University's funding came from such donations. Many wealthy merchants and gentry hoped their children would become dragons and phoenixes; spending a billion was nothing big.

Second, having made outstanding contributions or achieved exceptional success in certain fields. In other words, if you were extremely awesome in some aspect, you could get in!

These were the admission conditions. As long as you met either one of these two, you could be admitted to Lop Nur University.

However, after being admitted, one must undergo a comprehensive physical and mental examination. If there are any severe psychological disorders or an IQ below 100, the student will be expelled.

Chen Zhao looked at the enrollment requirements and immediately felt a headache coming on.

He could definitely forget about the first condition; if he had a billion in the family, Chen Zhao certainly wouldn't choose Lop Nur University, but would instead choose not to go to college at all.

As for the second condition, having outstanding contributions or distinguished achievements, this is very difficult to judge. If the teachers at Lop Nur University think you are outstanding, then you are outstanding; if they think you aren't distinguished, then you aren't.

It's a bit convoluted, but that is the general gist: there are no concrete standards for measurement. No one knows if they will make the cut or not.

If you can't find it by searching the book title, you can try searching for the author; perhaps it was just renamed!