In the age of the joint entrance exam, students didn't have to spend a lot of time thinking about where they wanted to go; they just filled out their school preference list in order of how selective the schools were. Students with good scores on the joint entrance exam would be able to attend schools near the top of their list. Over time this fixed the reputation of the star schools.
聯考時代，學生不用費心思考，按照聯考原始分數，填寫志願，一排到二十，成績好的學生進前面志願學校，歷史因素造就了明星高中。