“Wait, what? That’s a high school?”

Some high schools in K-dramas just get us wondering if something is/was wrong with our high school days. Those ridiculously fancy high schools make our school memories look like a beige-walled waiting room.  

Starting from short designer uniform skirts and blazers that are thoroughly ironed with sharp edges, a huge library to different buildings and mansions for dorms, these high schools have left us in awe.

Here are some of the fancy high schools that made us question our high school experiences:

Boys Over Flowers (2009)

This Shinhwa High School is the epitome of wealth and exclusivity. Yes, you read the exclusivity right because it was mainly for the super-rich! This school was exquisite enough to have the infamous F4 as students. Who cared about school rules when the F4 made them? Those wealthy, popular, and rude boys ruled the school with an iron fist.

Their way of listing social outcasts was sticking red cards on them. It was more of a class division than academics, with a kingdom-like environment instead of a school.

The Heirs (2013)

Jeguk High School was for fashion shows. It was a battle of the best uniforms and cars. The students were heirs to different massive corporations and wouldn’t let anything or anyone mess with their royalty. Maintenance of social class and dating within your league was the motto. The rigidity of the hierarchy was so high that everything was set distinctly like a flowchart. Their worries as students were not passing mathematics tests but inheriting a conglomerate.

Sky Castle (2018)

Although this drama didn’t focus much on the high school aspect, the unspoken rules of academic excellence at all costs existed. The insane pressure of getting the kids into top universities bred an environment of fierce competition that bent the ethics most times. Luxury was not in clothes or cars; it was having access to the best learning resources and tutors, with their emotions paying the price because they had little to zero social life.

True Beauty (2020)

Although not as fancy as others, the class segregation existed. Instead of wealth and luxuries, appearance and popularity were the standards. The social currency for making friends was beauty. The school glorified unrealistic beauty standards where the students were being judged on their looks constantly. It was an environment that dealt with the emotional luxury of beauty and popularity as the epitome of power.

These schools are fascinating in the sense that they had their own definition of class and luxury. However, they are similar in the exaggeration of wealth, power, and influence. This makes us question our experiences in school and the world around us.

Our high school life might have been void of drama and class segregation, but at least we didn’t have to worry about our lives being determined by some rich kids’ rules. Honestly, this is probably a good thing.

How was your high school experience?