More Taiwanese high schoolers get cosmetic surgey to boost college chances

Want China Times, Chen Hsuan-yu, Hong Hsin-tzu and Staff Reporter 2015-02-22

Students sit in a classroom to practice for college interviews on Feb. 15,
2015, in Taipei. (Photo courtesy of Soochow University)

An increasingly large number of Taiwanese senior high school students are visiting cosmetic surgery clinics to improve their appearance so that they might have a better chance to be admitted in colleges via their interviews, reports our Chinese-language sister newspaper China Times.

The most common problems these young students show up wanting to get rid of are pimples and wrinkles, said one doctor who works at a cosmetic surgery clinic when interviewed by China Times.

Lu Ching-yi, a dermatologist at I Skin Laser & Skin Care Center, said that most female high school students would come to her clinic with their mothers. She once gave treatment to a 17 years old female to cure the scars caused by pimples when she was younger. The scars, according to Lu, could not be hidden by creams or powders.

Chao Chao-ming, another dermatologist, said that some of the young students visited his clinic to find a solution for the wrinkles caused by their frowning, since they give them an angry look, creating an obstacle for their interpersonal relationships. Most of these students would receive botulinus injections to get rid of the wrinkles.

Besides facial issues, students visit cosmetic surgery clinics to find solutions for baldness problems. Most doctors advise them to apply a hair-growing cream, instead of receiving hair transplants. In case patients do not have time to wait for their hair grows back, doctors suggest they wear a wig.

Professors said that there is no need for students to visit such clinics to fix their appearance because the most important thing is to be polite, and show how capable they are. One National Taiwan University professor said that students need even wear makeup.